Beyond Blue Eyes
by Fire Inu Princess
Summary: For a week, Naruto had been missing from a mission he had taken. No one had known what had happened and assumed that he had been killed in action. But, one day, Naruto is found just outside the village covered in blood and a few bite marks. Just what happened to him during that one week and does it involve the weird sightings in the village lately?
1. The Mission

**Note: this is the first chapter of my new story yes, but I won't start to write the next chapter until I've finished Fox in the Rain which should only be two chapters, maybe three if needed, then of course I also need to update my other story Uzumaki Galaxy, anyway I hope you enjoy this story.  
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**_For as long as I can remember, I've been different I guess. People had always given me glares like just being alive was a crime. Like I have done something terrible that I didn't know about. Sadly, when I was twelve, I had found out that I was the Jinchuriki for the Nine Tailed Fox. When I had heard about that, I thought that my life was over, that this was why people had hated me and that I would never be accepted for who I was…_**

**_Though that changed when my teacher, Iruka had stood up for me._**

**_So much has happened since then, I made so many friends I could count on and so many people who tried to help me out and me trying to help them out in return. Though, just as I had completed my last mission… is when my life turned on me…_**

_"Sasuke, we're going to be fine. Just hurry up you're slowing us down teme." Said the orange clad shinobi. Looking over his shoulder, the orange clad shinobi ran his hand through his blonde locks, happy that while on his training trip he had managed to come home after two and a half years, and of course had left again when he had heard about a 'Sasuke Sighting' so to speak._

_He of course had managed to convince Sasuke to come back since, for some strange reason the Uchiha had a change of heart and had said he would come along. Though, the young man couldn't help but wonder what he was to do after they got home. His bright blue eyes stared at his best friend. Sasuke hadn't changed much over the two and a half years._

_Sasuke's hair was a little longer, two locks of hair framing his face with the back styled out in spikes, in a way resembling a duck's rear end. He wore an open robe that showed off his chest and the Uchiha symbol on the collar. Which was a red and white fan._ _He also wore dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from halfway up his stomach to his knees. Next he wore black arm guards that covered his forearms and stretched up to reach his upper biceps. Finally, Sasuke also wore a purple rope belt around his waist, tied in a bow, in which he carries his sword. To finish off his outfit was the black shoes that reached up just under his knees, leaving his ankles bare and a strap over his foot just under his toes._

_The only thing that changed about Naruto was his height, and his muscular build then of course his jump suit. Which is now orange and black with black on the sleeves and over his upper chest before going down the center with orange at his sides, while his pants are completely orange. Next of course were his shoes, instead of them being blue shinobi sandals, were black._

_"Naruto… has Sakura said anything about me at all? You know… since I left…?" Sasuke said with a strange voice that was a little odd to hear it from him though Naruto figured that it was normal since he did just have a sudden change of heart._

_"Sasuke, when isn't Sakura talking about you? We may be sixteen now but some people don't change." Naruto said with a big grin on his face before he started to walk forward. The young man did let out a sad sigh, no matter what he couldn't get Sakura to let go of her love for Sasuke. It seemed that it was pointless to even try to get her to stop her love. Maybe this was for the best, so long as Sakura was happy, maybe then he could be happy for her instead of being happy with her._

_Running a hand through his hair once again, the young man looked ahead, thinking that maybe they would be back in Konoha by tonight or tomorrow. Speaking of which… now that he looked Naruto couldn't help but notice that see that it was night. Shaking his head, the young shinobi knew that this was going to be a long night but at least they would be home soon._

_Sasuke sighed softly; Naruto could tell that he hated all the walking as much as the blonde did. It was rather weird that Sasuke had a sudden change of heart but he wasn't going to complain about it. Not at the moment anyway. "Do you feel that?" asked Sasuke, causing Naruto to look around. He didn't feel anything weird so there couldn't be anything wrong right?_

_"Maybe it's all in your head teme."_

_"I'm telling you baka; I'm sensing something wrong…"_

_Naruto shook his head, just thinking that Sasuke had lost it. It may as well just be something that messed with his head a bit. There had to be something wrong with Sasuke, why else would the guy think that there was something else in the forest? Suddenly, a beast jumped out of the forest, tackling Naruto to the ground._

_Yelping out in shock, Naruto is pinned to the ground and stared up at the beast that stood over him. Staring at him were a pair of glowing yellow eyes with black slits, surrounding its body was black fur but what bothered him was that it stood on hind legs and had hands and arms like a real person but a muzzle like a wolf. Naruto didn't know what this thing was but he knew that he had to make sure that Sasuke got back to the village… Shaking his head, Naruto grabbed onto the monster's wrists and stared at Sasuke as he said "get to the village! I'll be fine!"_

_Sasuke glared, as if saying that he didn't want to run. That it would ruin his pride but Naruto just shouted at him. Telling him to get the hell to the village and to send back up right away. There was no way that he would be able to keep this thing back for long and he knew that. Naruto watched as Sasuke ran as fast as he could, after Sasuke left, Naruto started to fight the beast. He had to make sure that he could keep it busy while fighting this thing._

_Yet after the beast slammed its huge hand into Naruto's face, was when Naruto's world went dark._

Naruto groaned softly as he wondered through the forest. He didn't know how long he had been walking for, or how long he had been fighting against that beast for. His body felt like it was on fire, felt like his body was going to fall over at any given minute. Blinking his tired eyes, the young man looked up and blinked slowly as he titled his head. Whatever was going on, he didn't know… all he could make out was the trees… trees that looked like they were spinning in his line of vision.

_'Gotta… get home…'_ thought Naruto as he blinked his tired blue eyes. His top had been torn to shreds, and he was covered in blood. He didn't know if the blood belonged to him or the beast that had attacked him. The young man had thought about that beast over and over again, though no matter what, he just couldn't think on what was going on. In fact, it almost seemed like no matter what, he couldn't remembered if the beast was dead or if it had ran off or even if he had somehow knocked it out.

Giving a sad smile, Naruto looked down and he couldn't help but notice that even his long pants were in tatters. The only thing he could think of that hadn't been torn was the headband that he had placed in his pocket after he had found Sasuke and had started to bring him toward Konoha.

Shaking, the young man wrapped his arms around his body as he tried to feel some warmth. He didn't know why but he felt so very cold. It felt like his entire body was shivering right from his very core. Hell, it felt like his body temperature just suddenly decided to drop just like that. Maybe it was all in his head… maybe it was from lack of food and lack of water. He didn't know when was the last time that he had managed to eat or drink anything… Everything had felt like it had been nothing but a blur.

Giving a sad laugh, the young man tried to get himself under control, Naruto knew that this was going to be a long trip home though he couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for him to get home. Everything started to look the same, making him think that he had somehow forgotten how to get back home to Konoha. _'Maybe I did forget… everything is so foggy and hazy…' _thought Naruto as he tried to keep himself standing on his feet.

"Can't… stop… must keep… going…" he moaned, his body feeling heavy like lead. He knew that this was going to be a long battle; the young man had felt like everything was going to be a tough battle, a battle with himself. Shaking his head, Naruto looked up and squinted his eyes… he could have sworn that he saw something far ahead though he couldn't be sure if it was really there, or if it was all in his head once again.

Rubbing his upper arms, Naruto took a deep breath as he mumbled that there was no way that it could be real. That this whole thing was just all in his head, that it wasn't really there and did just his mind want to play tricks on her again. "I wonder how the others are doing…" whispered Naruto as he tried to get his thoughts onto something. Maybe if he thought about the friend's that he had made over the years, he wouldn't have to worry about his thoughts playing tricks on him…

With Kiba, the dog lover, knowing him he's running through the forests or in the park with his dog and friend Akamaru. For as long as Naruto could remember, those two had always been together since Kiba has had the small dog since they were kids. Though that was to be expected since all members of Kiba's clan got a dog companion at a young age.

Then of course there was Shino, in a way he was like Kiba, but only with the companion of the clan. Shino's clan keep bugs in their bodies and in exchange for the insects help, the insects feed on their chakra. Though, Naruto had always found it scary and very creepy that he kept bugs in his body and would always talk about it… Not to mention, there was how he could always tell the difference of ramen when he ate them, like when he could tell when something had been changed when others couldn't have noticed at all.

The last person he had thought about was Hinata… frowning, Naruto stopped for a moment as he thought about her. For as long as he could remember, Hinata would stare at him and when he would go near her about something she would go red and faint. The more he thought about it the more he wondered if she had some kind of health problem that people should look over her about.

In a way, she was the only one that had been nice to him… Sakura was always mean yet she had her moments but… he never heard a single mean thing from her. Taking a deep breath, Naruto kept his focus on Hinata, thinking that maybe her kindness, the kindness that she had always shown to him would be enough for him to keep going on this trip back to Konoha… In a way, he could recall thinking about Hinata while he was fighting that monster… that was the only thing that he had kept him going was thinking about Hinata.

Looking up, Naruto blinked when he saw the gates of Konoha… he couldn't believe it… he made it. Unless, this was one of fates cruel ways of tormenting him… Soon, Naruto fell onto his knees, then he fell forward as the world went dark… thinking that this was the end of him.

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A young woman wondered through the village of Konoha. She had long blue hair that reached her waist and trimmed in a princess style with two short locks framing her face. Her lavender coloured eyes looked around the village, though she had dark circles under eyes, which stood out thanks to her pale skin. Ever since Naruto had disappeared days ago, she had gone out every night to try to find him along with her team mates. She also wore a loose fitting, long-sleeved, lavender and cream zip-up jacket with lavender cuffs over mesh armour with navy blue pants and black, low-heeled sandals.

Her jacket was a little torn from being out late last night though it was worth it in a way, even if she had nothing to show for it. Shaking her head, the young woman wrapped her left hand around her right elbow as she tried to think if Naruto was okay… he was a strong shinobi and… and he would have come back unless something was holding him back right? That had to be the only way…

Though, she also couldn't help but think about the monster that Sasuke had described before the Hokage had to talk to him about his punishment. He had said that the monster almost resembled a wolf that could stand on its back legs and had the arms and upper body of a very well muscular human yet had a muzzle and long pointed ears like a wolf and of course was covered in dark fur. That was something that had bothered her a little bit but at the same time it just seemed a little unreal. There was no way that there was such thing as a monster that looked like a human and a wolf. Though, then again there was a monster fox that had attacked the village sixteen years ago.

It made her think… maybe it was possible for a beast that looked like a wolf and a man could have attacked Naruto on his way back to the village. Plus, Sasuke wasn't one to lie even if he was consumed by hatred. Though there was still the chance that he had _thought_ that he saw the monster instead of really seeing it. _'Either way, I'm still going to find Naruto no matter what.'_ thought Hinata with certainty. She had to find him; she just had to find him. He still had to follow his dream, and she would make sure that he got to see his dream come true no matter what.

Inhaling softly, the young woman knew that no matter the cost, she wouldn't give up on her search for Naruto. Even if Kiba and Shino tell her time and time again she just wouldn't give up. Her love for the blonde shinobi prevented her from doing that. She smiled softly, closing her eyes for a moment as she pictured the day when Naruto would become Hokage. The thought of seeing his grin, the idea of him becoming the Hokage that he so rightfully deserved after all the hard work he does for the village.

Looking up at the sky, Hinata could still it… even as she turned her gaze at the Hokage monument, she could see a carved out carving of Naruto's face in the stone, for him to always be remembered as the greatest Hokage to have ever lived.

Smiling gently, Hinata started to make her way to the gate. Maybe if she looked around in the forest, she would be able to find him… She would be able to find Naruto in the forest during the day instead of the night… She would give up any and all sleep just so long as it would give her a chance to find the orange clad shinobi. Sure, at night he may be sleeping and making it easy to find him since he would stay in that one spot, but he wouldn't be able to call out to anyone, during the day he would be moving but at least he could call out to her and she would be able to track his chakra better if it was in motion.

Looking up at the gate, the young woman wondered if this would be the day that she would find Naruto. This just had to be the day that she would find him… As soon as she finds him, she'll confess to him of her feelings… she'll do it at long last. Inhaling deeply, Hinata knew that it may seem a little silly to say it when just coming home after a mission but it would still be worth it. Closing her eyes for a moment, the young woman took a deep breath as she tried to get herself to relax. Maybe then, maybe then she would finally feel better to know that she had finally confessed her love to the man that had captured her heart at long last.

Opening her pale lavender eyes, Hinata gave a soft and gentle smile as she started to walk up to the small stand just by the gate. Telling them that she would go back on her search for Naruto. Though she would stay in the forest so she wouldn't get in trouble since she didn't have permission from the Hokage to leave the border of the Land of Fire as of yet. Once they nodded to her request, Hinata saw that they started to open the gate and just turned as she waited for the gate to fully open so she could leave…

Yet, as it slowly opened, the young woman couldn't believe her eyes. Lying on the ground was a blonde haired young man… torn orange pants and covered in blood. "Get a medic! There's someone bleeding!" shouted Hinata as she rushed forward as fast as she could. There was no way that this could be Naruto could it? The closer she got, the more she could see… it was Naruto. She recognises those whisker marks anywhere.

"Naruto!" shouted Hinata as she knelt by his side and turned him over, using the small amount of medical jutsu that she had learned from the Hokage just in case her team mates were ever injured. The young man slowly opened his eyes and just stared at Hinata for a brief moment… "Oh Naruto, you're home! You're finally home! I never gave up trying to find you." Hinata said in joy, tears starting to pool in her lavender eyes.

"H… Hin… Hina… ta…" whispered Naruto before his eyes closed once again. Eyes widening, Hinata went back to healing him, waiting for the medics to come but… she was just glad that he had finally returned to the village at long last.


	2. Wonderful Scent

_It was dark, nothing in the forest but the trees that created dark shadows. It was hard to say what was going on though there was one thing that Naruto knew… it was that being out in the forest when it looks like this was a bad idea. Shaking his head, Naruto felt like his body was running through the forest, in fact it felt as if he couldn't even control his movements. In fact, he felt like he was slowly starting to lose his mind to whatever was controlling his movements… whatever that was anyway…_

_Blinking slowly, Naruto looked around seeing nothing around him but the trees, the shadows… the darkness itself. Even the mood didn't show itself in the sky. It made the young man wonder where he really was. In a way, this forest made him think of Konoha…_

_"Am I really home?" said Naruto with confusion, not really expecting anyone to really answer him back. Though for some reason, the young man felt like something was watching him. Whatever it was, the feeling that he was getting made him nervous. In fact, it almost felt like it was evil, sinister… He felt nothing good about this thing… nothing but pure evil and hatred._

_"What's out there?" called Naruto, trying to figure out what was out there. Was it the beast that had attacked him and Sasuke? Or was it something else? Something more evil than whatever that beast was?_

_The more he thought about it, the more he remembered that it resembled some kind of humanoid wolf or something. Though the image was still a little blurry in his mind so he didn't think he would ever remember what had really happened. In fact, it almost seemed like his mind was keeping that image from him as if to keep him safe, safe from what though he wasn't really sure but figured that it didn't really matter to him._

_Suddenly, Naruto felt something weird happening to him. His body had stopped running and he felt a large amount of pain starting to form through his body. In fact, it almost seemed like everything was burning through his body. It felt like someone was pressing down on his bones, wanting to break and shatter everything that was within his body. The bones that would shatter, felt like someone was melting them, boiling them in a pot before pouring them into a mold of some kind and placing them back through his flesh to adjust to something new…_

_"Stop it!" shouted the young man, wanting this pain to stop. He felt like his body had hit the ground, though he couldn't be sure. The only thing his body could feel, was the unbearable pain that it was experiencing. Breathing heavily, Naruto tried to push himself back up, tried to force himself to get back up onto his feet so he could keep moving. Though sadly it seemed that no matter what, he couldn't get himself back up, the pain made sure of that, and would keep pushing him back down like a great weight had placed itself upon his shoulders._

_Falling over onto his side, Naruto gasped and wheezed, the pain had forced itself into his lungs, and it felt like no matter what, the air that he would breath in, wouldn't reach his lungs for the burning that had forced itself through his body would just absorb the oxygen. In a way, that made him think about what Kakashi had told him once… when he was trying to teach him a new nature chakra, so he could have learned a new element that could defeat Sasuke since the Uchiha master fire element chakra while Naruto's was wind. Wind did, after all only make fire stronger._

_Looking up, Naruto could faintly make out the form of a beast… it loomed over him; out of its muzzle was enough for Naruto to notice its fangs. The beast just seemed to stand over him, as if it knew something… like it was going to tell the young man that something was going to happen. Whatever that would be though, Naruto wasn't sure and he had a feeling that he was going to find out sooner or later._

_"What…" he whispered, trying to force the words passed his lips though it almost seemed impossible. Yet, it didn't stop him from trying to get those words out. "Do you want…?" asked Naruto, his skin looking a little pale._

_"You'll know soon enough blonde." Said the wolf-man, causing Naruto's eyes to widen in shock. No, there was no way that this thing could speak. Could even understand the human language, and yet it was speaking perfectly! There was no way that this could be real, that this was really happening though the more he wanted to deny any of this, the more Naruto knew that it had to be happening. "Soon, you will finish…"_

_"Finish what?" groaned out Naruto, trying to get himself up onto his feet so he could kick this things ass. The beast seemed to have read his mind before picking up Naruto by his orange and black jump suit top and held onto him, his feet just dangling off of the ground. His blue eyes stared at the beast, filled with pain and worry. Thinking that this was going to be the end that this beast would kill him in cold blood and he would never become the Hokage like he had always wanted to be, that he had always dreamed of being._

_Smirking, the beast just held onto him, keeping the secret to himself, or itself since Naruto didn't know if this thing was male or female. The beast just smirked at Naruto, revealing its sharp pointed fangs as if taunting him by keeping the secret. "You'll see… and then… you'll join me." Said the beast before opening his jaws as if to devour Naruto._

_The only thing that the young man could do was scream bloody murder…_

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he grabbed hold of the nearest thing. Whatever it was, it was warm, soft yet small. His vision was nothing but a deep crimson as his body felt the desire to protect itself from the nightmares that had haunted his sleep. Growling darkly, he said "I won't let you do what you please monster!" His voice was filled with anger, and a small hint of fear… he didn't know what he was holding onto though from the way his mind was working at right now, he didn't really care.

"N… Nar… Naru… to… stop…" pleaded a soft voice, he didn't know who the voice belonged to yet what the young man did know was that it was a woman's voice. It was too soft and gentle to belong to a man, at least to belong to the beast that he had seen moments ago.

Slowly, the red started to bleed its way out of his vision and the pale blue skin of a woman started to come into his line of sight. The woman had long blue hair, pale lavender coloured eyes, well eye since the other one was closed. Her lips looked a little grey to him though he wasn't sure what was going on. The anger that he had in his system slowly started to fade away as he started to realise one thing… who this woman was. Eyes widening, Naruto let go, not believing what he was so close to doing… he had almost…

"Hinata I'm so sorry." Naruto whispered in horror, he never knew that… Looking around, the young man frowned as he patted Hinata's back, hoping that would be enough to get her to calm down. That he had been so close to killing her, it made him sick to his stomach… "I didn't mean to do that… I… I just had a nightmare and… I just reached out to stop the…" He looked down in shame, feeling like the monster that had been in his sleep. Rubbing his face, Naruto drew his knees to his chest, his arms lying against his raised knees as he took a deep breath, trying to get his bearings together.

"Naruto… you didn't mean to…" Hinata whispered, her voice sounding a little hoarse from being strangled but at least she didn't sound as bad as how she could have sounded. Still didn't make him feel any better, knowing that he had done that to her…

The young man tried to get himself under control, well his emotions anyway. Inhaling softly, the young man blinked for a moment as he thought that he smelled something amazing. Sniffing the air, the young man knew that he smelled something. It smelt nice, no, it smelt amazing… not as amazing as ramen but it still smelt awesome either way.

Lifting his head, the young man blinked as he closed his eyes and started to sniff, wanting to figure out what the smell was and most of all where it was coming from. Turning his head, the young man knew that the scent was lavender with a hint of vanilla. He had to admit, he always had a soft spot for vanilla but he would never tell anyone that, knowing that it wasn't really 'manly' for a guy to like that scent in the first place… To him, vanilla was a scent for women, not men… and yet he was a man that had a soft scent for it.

"Naruto?" asked Hinata, causing the young man's eyes to flutter open as he blinked slowly and looked over at Hinata. Seeing just how close he had gotten to Hinata… how their noses just barely touched made Naruto's face turn bright red before he pulled back. He couldn't believe that he had been that close to her, in fact it almost seemed like he had been about to kiss her but… he couldn't do that. He was still in love with Sakura… even if he did give up on her; he couldn't do anything about that.

Gulping a bit, Naruto moved back to sitting up on his bed and looking away from Hinata. He just couldn't bring himself to even look at her. Not after that anyway… He wanted to inhale deeply again but knew that if he did, he may be under that scents spell once again. Breathing through his mouth, Naruto calmly asked "are you wearing some kind of perfume or something Hinata?" Maybe if he changed the subject to something it would get their minds off of what had just transpired through here just moments ago. At least, that was what he was hoping for anyway.

"No, perfume would give shinobi's away so I never wear it…"

"Not even at home?"

"No… not even at home."

That was weird, if she wasn't wearing perfume why was he able to smell that wonderful amazing scent that seemed to have coated itself around her? Maybe this was all just in his head and that he didn't really smell vanilla at all but it was all just part of his head. Sniffing the air again, Naruto groaned… he still smelled it, and he didn't know what he was going to do now. There was no way that he would be able to deal with this… what if he ended up doing something that Hinata wouldn't like? The thought of that bothered him and it made him mad at himself.

"How long have I been asleep for?" asked Naruto, now that he had some wits about his surroundings, he was curious as to how long he had been asleep for. It was puzzling, that he ended up here at the hospital after passing out though maybe he had been close enough to the village for people to notice that he had gotten back safely, at least in a sense. Though he still didn't know how he had been found for that matter…

"Two days," came Hinata's reply, causing the young man to blink and stare at her in shock. How was he… that can't be. Even with the Kyuubi's chakra, he had slept for two whole days? Just how was that even possible?! Shaking his head, the young man ran a hand through his hair and winced a bit. He still felt like he was in some pain though not as much as what it was before. Slowly placing his arms back down, the young man looked himself over and saw that he was shirtless, which surprised Naruto a little bit since Hinata was able to stare at him without passing out like that one time… though he figured it was because of the bandages that covered his torso and his stomach…

Lifting the blanket a bit, Naruto was relieved that he still at least had some boxers on so that made him feel a little better. Sniffing the air, he smelled something else… though it wasn't in the room. The scent was… sake? It was faint but he could definitely smell sake. "Someone's here." Said Naruto, his voice sounding deadly serious, like he was ready for a fight. What bothered him though was why he suddenly felt like there was danger when he was home, no one wanted to hurt him… at least not anymore. Maybe he was nervous that the beast, that wolf-like creature would come back wanting to fight him.

Soon, the door slid opened and walked in was a tall blonde haired woman. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into two low ponytails; her brown eyes stared at Naruto with a hint of happiness and joy, like that of a mother. Her skin was fair and she had a blue diamond on her forehead. Her face was framed by her long blonde bangs.

Her clothes were a loose blouse styled kimono that showed off her large bust. The kind that Naruto had seen many of the girls he knew who would kill to have. Over that, was a long green jacket that reached just above her knees and the sleeves ending near her wrists. Next were the dark blue pants that she wore, only ending past her knees showing the well-toned yet slender legs that she has. She wears open-toed, strappy black sandals with high heels and red polish on both her fingernails and toenails. Finally, she also wears a soft pink lipstick. All in all, she was a beautiful woman but really, Naruto knew the truth, she was an old woman who uses a jutsu to maintain her youthful appearance.

"Granny, what brings you here?" asked Naruto with confusion clearly written all over his face. As soon as he had said 'granny' he could have sworn that he saw a vein sticking out of her forehead. Though she took a deep breath and made her way toward the two teens that were in the room before taking a seat. Was she trying to say something or was she just in deep thought about something? Better yet, was she just drunk?

The blonde haired woman breathed deeply before leaning forward in her seat, her elbows resting on the sides of the bed and her hands folded under her nose… the stance reminded him of when she was giving out mission assignments while she sat at her desk… "Naruto," began the older woman as she stared at him with her serious brown eyes. "What happened to you after the attack?"

Naruto stared at Tsunade for a moment, trying to find the right words that he could use to describe what had happened though to be honest… he didn't really remember everything that had happened. "The only thing I remember… was giving it one good hit and I ran off… I was covered in blood and in a lot of pain but…" Wincing, Naruto grabbed a hold of his left shoulder, thinking about the wolf brought a tremendous amount of pain to his body and it made him want to cry out but his voice died in his throat.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" asked Hinata as she gently reached out and placed her hands on the sides of his shoulders, hoping to bring some kind of comfort. Though when she was trying to avoid the part of his shoulder that had been causing Naruto his pain, she in fact had touched part of it, causing him to let out a sharp gasp and a soft growl-like sound. Breathing heavily, Naruto shoved Hinata's hand off of his shoulder as he tried to collect himself… the pain had been terrible.

"Hm… Naruto let me look at your shoulder." Said Tsunade before she pushed herself up onto her feet and carefully moved Naruto's hand from his shoulder. The blonde haired woman carefully, and gently moved the bandages from Naruto's shoulder, wanting to make sure that she didn't cause any harm to Naruto since he did, just wake up when she had thought that he would have woken up yesterday because of the Kyuubi's chakra.

What she saw though made her frown in confusion. All she could see was a weird bite mark that looked like it was done by a wild animal, though that wasn't what had confused her. Instead of it still looking like that of a fresh wound, it had healed and left a scar… that was odd since Naruto never gets scars, and his wounds would always heal. This had her a little concerned and worried though for not it was best not to cause a panic until she could figure out what was going on though maybe, it was just the Kyuubi's way of teaching Naruto a lesson for being stupid and telling Sasuke to get to the village leaving him alone.

"You shouldn't have anything to worry about Naruto, it's nothing serious. Now… there are some important matters that we have to deal with. Since you still aren't fully healed but are well enough to leave you'll be assigned a nurse so to speak, someone to look after you while you heal." Said Tsunade, which made Naruto frown a little. Who would she assign to watch him? It wasn't like he really needed anyone to watch over him, he could easily take care of himself but maybe… it was Sakura!

"Hinata will be your nurse until further notice. Once you've healed Naruto, Hinata will be free of her duties as your nurse."

As soon as she had said that, Naruto was sure that Hinata was going to be miserable…


	3. Noise is a Pain

Naruto was thankful for Hinata walking him home… it was nice of her that was for sure. Though he still thought that she was going to hate the thought of looking after him… Sighing softly, Naruto shook his head as he tried to get his thoughts together. It was still rather odd that he had been asleep for two days, and that he had been well enough to come on home after waking up. Whatever was wrong with him at the time just seemed to have healed up for him… Which was very weird… and that was saying a lot for him.

Inhaling softly, Naruto looked down at the clothes that the hospital gave him, they weren't really his but at least he had something to wear instead of walking home in his boxers. Shaking his head, the young man made his way to his bathroom just wanting to wash the scent of the hospital from his skin and change into his pajamas… To be honest, he didn't want to do anything but to shower, eat, and then go to bed. Even though he had been asleep for two days, he was still pretty worn out and didn't want to be tired tomorrow since he did promise Hinata to spend time with her until he was given the 'okay' from Tsunade so he didn't need someone watching him anymore.

Yawning into the back of his hand, Naruto made his way to the bathroom though he made sure to grab a clean towel and fresh change of clothes before walking into the bathroom. He didn't know what Hinata would have in store for him tomorrow, but he hoped that he would have better control over the damn increase to his sense of smell. It was just downright annoying; the only thing that didn't bother him was Hinata's scent. It was so calm and relaxing… it almost made him want to hold onto her and just inhale her scent all day- wait!

Shaking his head, the young man ran a hand through his blonde locks as he tried to get himself to calm down and relax. "What the hell is wrong with me? Sure her scent was nice but maybe she was just in the garden and baking something." Naruto told himself, praying that was what it was. There was no way that could be her scent and- "Damn it, I keep thinking about scent like I'm some kind of dog or something." He mumbled before turning on the water for his shower to get it hot… He didn't feel like having a warm shower, a hot one…

His body just felt so cold for some reason… _'Maybe I came down with something while I was wondering through the forest…'_ thought Naruto as he let out a soft sigh and started to strip off the white clothes that Tsunade had given him to wear. There was no way that he would be wearing these again; they were just… so white.

Yawning into the back of his hand once again, Naruto jumped into the shower and let out a bit of a breathless gasp until he had started to adjust to the hot water. Damn it, this was terrible though it made him feel a little better when his skin had started to relax a little bit. As the water ran down his slightly tanned yet chilled body, Naruto started to go into deep thought, thinking that maybe there would be anything that would pop in his mind. Mostly just to remember something from when he had gone missing.

Though no matter how hard he thought about it, it just made his head hurt. "Damn it that hurts…" said Naruto as he grabbed his head. Closing his thoughts, the young man tried again, but the pain just kept on getting worse for him. Maybe he wasn't meant to remember, though it would have been nice if he knew if he killed the beast or he really did run away when he had the chance to.

Shaking his head once again, Naruto grabbed his shampoo and started to wash his hair. He felt like he was only covered in dirt and grime from when he was away, and knew that he hadn't been washed while he was in the hospital. It wouldn't have been a point since he was still healing while he was asleep. Sighing, the young man wondered how he was still sane… He knew that he thought about Hinata on his walk back but what had he been thinking about while he was fighting the monster? His dream? His friends? There were just so many things that could have gone through his mind but no matter what he just couldn't think on what it could have been and figured that no matter what he wouldn't remember.

"Maybe it's best that I don't remember…" said Naruto, not really expecting an answer from anyone. Giving a sad smile, the young man washed the shampoo out of his hair before he started to lather up his body in his unscented soap. It's possibly a good thing that he never bought the scented stuff, thinking that if he did and it wasn't a 'manly' scent that people wouldn't take him less seriously than before.

Sighing sadly, the blue eyed teen knew that this was going to be difficult, mostly because he was still recovering from the attack and knew that it would be a while before he could go on a mission again. Looking up at the shower head, Naruto closed his eyes as the soap slipped off of his body, along with the grime that had clung to his body. "I should just forget all about that attack and go on with my life. All I gotta do is heal, get stronger and go back to my path to becoming Hokage!" declared Naruto with a big grin on his face.

Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto finished up his shower, shut off the water and grabbed a towel before wrapping it around his waist and made his way to the mirror before he grabbed another towel and started to shake it through his hair. If there was one thing that he knew, it was that he was just gonna have to deal with the fact that he was spending days maybe weeks with Hinata and just get through it… and of course pray that Hinata didn't have that scent anymore… he didn't want to end up doing what he did at the hospital… leaning into her and getting into her personal space.

Once Naruto was sure that his hair was dried enough, he grabbed his pajama pants and a simple black t-shirt that he sometimes slept in. He didn't think he would need his warm pajamas since he didn't think that he could handle warm pajamas tonight. Stretching his arms above his head, he slipped on his boxers first, than his long green pants and of course his black t-shirt. Didn't really care if they matched or not since he was going to sleep, so he set his towels over the shower railing to dry off before he made his way to the kitchen.

Blinking his tired blue eyes, Naruto made his way to the cupboards and started to pull out one of his instant ramen bowls and set it on the counter and started to boil some water for it in the kettle. Sitting down, Naruto tried to think on what Hinata would have in mind for the two of them tomorrow. To be honest, he didn't really care what it was, so long as they could do something fun and she didn't have that wonderful scent on her again. Laying his head on the table, the young man tried to get himself to relax, though it just felt like his nerves were on fire.

Digging his fingers into his scalp, the young man thought that maybe he had lost some of his sanity while he was out in the forest. Maybe he did, why else would he be so excited to smell her scent… "Damn it, I've got to stop thinking like some kind of dog or something." Muttered Naruto as he rolled is head on the table, looking up at the kettle as he had hoped that it would have boiled by now though sadly that didn't seem to be the case. Yawning, he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to think on the beast, the monster that had attacked him. It still had him a little confused as to why it had attacked in the first place, was it just fighting to protect itself or was it something else?

Maybe he would never know, maybe it would be one of those things that he just wouldn't have been able to figure out no matter how hard he tried.

Letting out a soft yawn, the young man lifted his head as he looked at the kettle, seeing that some steam was coming out though it still wasn't fully boiled as of yet. He needed the water to be boiling before he could pour it into the ramen bowl. Placing his chin on his palm, Naruto had tried to think on something else, maybe if his mind was distracted the water would steam up a little quicker…

Closing his eyes, Naruto pictured Hinata in his mind once again. Her and him, just walking through the town, her making sure that he was still okay. That he was in the best of health and nothing more… Though he couldn't help but wonder if he would bump into some of their other friends tomorrow… She did say that she would pick him up in the morning though he couldn't help but wonder of what time that would be since Naruto didn't know if Hinata was a morning person or if she liked to sleep in when she didn't have a mission.

Suddenly, the sound of the kettle started to ring in his ears. Letting out a loud whistle causing him to jump a little bit… Damn that had startled him a bit. Rubbing his forehead, Naruto pushed himself up onto his feet and grabbed the kettle after opening the ramen bowl and poured the hot water in and closing it up again. After that, he turned on a timer and sat back down again.

"Maybe we're just going to walk through the village…" muttered Naruto as he let out a soft sigh. Not going on missions sure was going to be boring, though it was what he had to do until he could go back with Tsunade's say so. Looking over at his shoulder, Naruto lifted the sleeve and saw that the weird scar that he had on his shoulder was still there… it wasn't raw or anything, rather that it looked like it had been there for a long time, like it's been there for months, maybe even years. This sure was weird since he had never been able to get scars before…

_'Maybe it's nothing?'_ thought Naruto with a shrug before dropping the sleeve and turning back to his ramen bowl. Sometimes it sucked waiting for it to boil but at least the end result was always worth it. Yawning, Naruto closed his eyes for a moment as his thoughts drifted to Sasuke and Sakura; he wondered if Sasuke was in jail or something… if that was the case at least he came back of his own free will instead of being forced so maybe his punishment won't be as severe as it could have been.

Giving a sad smile, Naruto couldn't help but think on how happy Sakura would have been. She would be overjoyed that Sasuke came back at long last. Though he couldn't help but wonder what would happen next… It would be nice to have Team Seven back together and going on missions once again. Yet, the young man knew that it would be a while before they could go back on any kind of missions together.

_Ding, ding, ding, ding!_

"Oh, ramen's ready." Said Naruto as he forgot all about his troubles and started to eat his ramen. Now he didn't even remember what he had even been thinking about.

* * *

Groaning, Naruto had his face buried under his pillows as he tried to sleep. It seemed that around the middle of the night his hearing got better… for a shinobi though that should be seen as a good thing. Yet, sadly it wasn't, it was a _nightmare_ because it made it harder and harder for him to sleep. Throughout the night, all he could hear were birds chirping, owls hooting, and crickets… among other things. No matter what he just couldn't get any kind of sleep at all.

Moaning, Naruto lifted one of the pillows and saw that the sun was starting to peek through his window. _'Why did it have to be morning now?!'_ thought Naruto with a groan and just buried his face back in his pillows. Naruto only wanted to sleep and nothing else, just sleep the day away but sadly, it seemed that even that wouldn't be the way it should be for he could hear people wondering around the streets. "Why didn't I ever get curtains…?" mumbled Naruto, his head was pounding, maybe if he could just sleep a little longer or even get something from Tsunade for it he'd be in business…

_'Feels like I have a hangover… and I'm too young to even drink!'_ thought the young man, he even sounded annoyed in his thoughts. Curling up in a ball, Naruto kept the pillows pressed tightly against his ears, hoping that would block out the sounds as they tried to force themselves through his ears and to his brain.

Sadly, the pillows did nothing for him, for he could still hear people outside his apartment. Kids running around and squealing out in joy, adults just walking through the village chatting among themselves. Why couldn't this get any easier for him? It was as if kami just found some way to torment him in some strange and harsh way. Okay, so maybe he was over reacting a little bit though he would blame the headache right now since he couldn't really do anything as of yet.

_Knock, knock, knock._

Son of a bitch! Naruto burst from his bed, pillows flying everywhere and he marched toward to door. Normally, Naruto would just sleepily walk toward the door when he was woken up but damn it he was pissed because of lack of sleep. Well, lack of sleep would put it mildly since he's only had maybe an hour or two of sleep the whole night, while the noises had just seemed to increase without him noticing at first until it had started to become unbearable.

Sometimes he wondered how Kiba was able to handle this when he uses chakra to help him increase his senses for when he's in battle or tracking someone. Opening the door, Naruto just shouted "can't I get some damn sleep around here and- oh… Hinata." Naruto blinked when he saw that it was only Hinata knocking at the door, okay now he felt like an ass for yelling at her. Closing his eyes and bowing his head, Naruto whispered "I'm sorry… I… I didn't mean to yell at you I just didn't get a lot of sleep…"

Hinata just stared at him; he could feel her gaze on him as he refused to even look up at her… Damn it, he should have just opened the door instead of shouting like he did… He just knew it, Hinata is going to slap him for shouting at him and call him an ass or a jerk. Though the young man knew that he did after all deserve what he had said to her even if it wasn't anything harsh but the way he had said it.

"Are you okay Naruto? You look so pale…" Hinata whispered in a gentle voice, he felt her hand gently cupping his cheek and lifting his head… The blonde shinobi couldn't help himself; he opened his eyes and pools of pale lavender eyes staring at him. Naruto never knew, that someone could stare at him like that… he never knew that it would have been possible for someone to even look that concerned about his wellbeing without being paid to do it or because it was just their 'job'… Sure, Hinata was asked by Tsunade to look after him, but she wasn't being paid for it… she could have refused it… but didn't.

"I… I didn't sleep very well last night." Naruto whispered before gently grabbing Hinata's hand and moving it away from his face. Even though he didn't want to, he had to… "C… Come in; just sit where you want…" He whispered softly, trying to calm himself as the scent of lavender and vanilla wafted through the doorway. Damn it, what was it with this scent going where Hinata was, there was just no way that it could have been her natural scent…

Gulping a bit, Hinata turned to stare at Hinata as he watched her come in and close the door behind her. Yup, it was definitely clinging to her like a second skin. Maybe she bakes every day or something… "Um, Hinata have you been baking anything or… or in the gardens?" He wanted to know what the cause of this scent was, maybe if he could figure it out he could see if she would stop before coming to see him and it would stop… at least, he was hoping that would be the case.

Hinata just stared at Naruto and shook her head. "No, I don't bake in the morning… I came straight here after breakfast and getting dressed." Hinata calmly answered him, which was an answer that he didn't really want. "Why do you ask?" asked Hinata with a tilt of her head, her blue hair fell over her shoulders and made Naruto think of curtains.

"No reason." He lied before making his way to his dresser and grabbed some clean clothes and just walked into the bathroom. Sometimes, having an apartment sucked since it was all just one single room to him. Though sadly it was all he could afford at the moment… Yawning into the back of his hand, Naruto stripped himself of his pajamas and changed into his orange and black jumpsuit. It was the only thing that he had that made him remember his sensei and father figure. His old jumpsuit for so worn and torn that there was no hope of fixing it… so, he had to get a new one and he never stopped wearing it…

Yawning into the back of his hand, the young man looked in the mirror and blinked in shock. His skin was pale, his eyes had dark circles under them, and they were very dark. It almost looked like someone punched him in both eyes… No wonder why Hinata looked so worried about him…

Frowning a bit, he sighed before brushing his hair and brushing his teeth as quickly as he could so he wouldn't keep Hinata waiting. Though he couldn't help but wonder though what Hinata would have in store for them today… Since he just got out of the hospital yesterday, he was sure that Tsunade gave Hinata a list of things that he could or shouldn't do until a certain amount of time passed though he didn't mind so long as he would be able to leave his apartment now and again instead of staying inside all the time.

Slapping himself a few times, Naruto felt that he had woken up so that would have to do for now. Walking out of his bathroom, the young man made his way toward Hinata and gave her a sad smile. "Sorry about keep you waiting Hinata. I was just so tired and wanted to sleep." Letting out a sad sigh, he grabbed his keys and wallet before walking out of the apartment with Hinata. There was so much that they could do today though for some reason, Naruto thought that they would just walk around the village…

"So Naruto, what would you like to do today?" asked Hinata with a smile on her face.

Frowning a little, Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he said "I'm not really sure… I don't really have the energy to do a lot today." Hinata frowned a bit at Naruto, he knew that she may have had something planned for him, but she wouldn't go along with it if he wasn't up for it. "I'm sorry Hinata… I know you must have had something fun in store for us to do but…"

"No!" Hinata shouted, only to frown when she saw Naruto wince slightly. "No…" she whispered in a quitter voice before placing her hand on his forehead and frowned a little. "You don't seem to have a fever… do you have a headache Naruto?" Well, it seems that he can't keep anything hidden from Hinata. Either she could just read expressions or actions that well, or she could just read him like a book. Rubbing his forehead, Naruto tried to get himself to relax though at least he didn't have any problems with smells anymore, though that may be because he was focusing on Hinata's scent instead since that kept him sane for the most part.

"I'll be okay…" whispered Naruto as he inhaled deeply. Just taking in as much of the fresh clean air as he could. The air made him feel a little better so that was something to be happy about. Turning his gaze to the Hokage Monument, Naruto wondered if his father was trying to tell him something from the otherworld… was he trying to show him or tell him something that was important or was it something else?

"Come on, what's wrong Naruto…" asked Hinata.

"I have a small headache, I'll ask Baa-chan if I can have something for it… and maybe get some sound cancelling headphones or something to help me block out sound…" answered Naruto.

It really was amazing though… he felt great when he could smell Hinata's scent, or just focused on her voice alone. It seemed that just focusing on all of that made him feel a little better… Letting out a soft sigh, the young man kept on walking through the street, inhaling Hinata's soft and gentle scent… still not wanting to believe that this was her natural scent of course though he still couldn't be sure of that as of yet. "How about we get something to snack on? Maybe something light for now." Hinata suggested, now that she mentioned it, he hadn't had breakfast yet and he wouldn't mind something light on his stomach right about now.

"Sure." Naruto said with a calm smile, thankful that Hinata cared about his health. In fact, just knowing that she cared made his heart race a little bit but said nothing about it. For now anyway. As they walked around the village, Naruto couldn't help but see that everyone seemed happy, no one glared at him. Though maybe that was because he had helped everyone during the invasion of Pein when he was trying to steal the Kyuubi. Frowning a bit, Naruto wondered why he had turned into the Kyuubi in the first place… He didn't really remember after being impaled to the ground… It was just a total blank for him and it made him wonder… what was the main cause for his seal to have broken so much causing him to almost fully become the Kyuubi?

Walking over to the bakery, Naruto frowned a little as he asked "why are we here?" His blue eyes blinked in confusion, wondering what he could eat here that would be light on his stomach. There was no way that bread would be very filling for him… It just didn't seem possible for him to settle for anything here… not to mention that bread wasn't really his favourite unless it was toasted or a sandwich, alone not so much.

"Wait here Naruto." Hinata said with a smile on her face before she walked inside. Okay, that was weird though he wasn't going to complain. Looking around, the young man couldn't help but wonder what he could do while he waited for Hinata. Crossing his arms, the young man tried to keep his thoughts busy, maybe if he ignored the sounds they wouldn't bother him as much… Looking over, he saw a small bench that would do for a place to sit on until Hinata got here…

Giving a small smile, Naruto walked over to the bench and sat down as he let out a soft sigh. It was nice that he could sit down, his head hanging over the back of the bench as he just relaxed. Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto closed his eyes as he felt the sun's rays shining down on him, warming him up a bit. That was one thing that he enjoyed about Konoha, it wasn't too hot like Suna, and it wasn't cold like it was in Kirigakure… well, from what he has heard about it since he's never personally been in Kirigakure.

Maybe his hearing had died down a little bit… now he could relax a bit and maybe have a nap. Hell, maybe he should ask Shikamaru where he could find a nice quite place to have a snooze. That would be nice… really nice…

Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto started to feel himself drift into dream land until a loud sound awoke him. Causing him to sit up quickly and cover his ears, tightly shutting his eyes. The sounds were kids crying; they had fallen maybe a few feet from him and had started to cry out loudly. The sounds of people laughing also reached his ears, though he knew that they were laughing at a joke since it was a humorous laugh instead of a teasing one.

Hissing in pain, Naruto fell off the bench, not aware of his surroundings rather, he was trying to block out the sounds. That was his main focus and nothing more. Though he couldn't get the sounds to leave him alone. "Stop!" Naruto said, hoping that they would hear him, but it seemed that they couldn't. Maybe he hadn't raised his voice enough but he couldn't or it would be his own voice causing him pain.

"Naruto!" cried a new voice before he felt someone helping him up onto his feet and walked him away from the crowd of people. He didn't know where he was going, nor did he care. All he knew was that the voices were starting to get further and further away from him and that was more than enough for the young man. The sound of footsteps was the only thing that he had started to hear, at least that was something he could tolerate right now…

"Naruto, are you okay?" asked a voice, a voice that he knew all so well. It was at the point that he knew who walked with him… It was Hinata, her arm wrapped around his waist and another was on his chest as if to help him stay on his feet until they got to a location that would be quite for him… at least, he was sure that was where they were going.

"I…" He didn't really know if he was okay… sure the noise was gone now and the only thing he could hear was Hinata but that was pretty much it. Opening his eyes, Naruto looked over at Hinata and gave her a sad smile. "I'm not really sure… my head feels like it'll split in two." He admitted, before he let out a small wince. Looking around, his vision a little fuzzy though he made out green… and trees. "The park?" He whispered softly, not sure why they were here of all places.

"I thought that you would like a quite spot to sit… you looked like you were in so much pain plus with your headache…" Right… she didn't know that his hearing had increased… and he was planning to keep it that way for now. He was going to make sure that he kept this to himself, thinking that it would go away in time. "Let's sit." Hinata said with a bright smile, a smile that made him forget all about his troubles. Looking around once more, Naruto saw a nice tree to sit under before dragging Hinata with him.

"Naruto?" She said with confusion, only to blink to find the two of them sitting down. Naruto knew that he had surprised her with his choice of trees but he just gave her a small smile.

"I like this tree… it has shade but not too much… and I've always liked the sakura blossoms." Yeah, another problem with his masculinity, he liked sakura trees, not just because Sakura was named after them, but because he liked how they looked. Sniffing the air, Naruto blinked suddenly before he looked over at Hinata. "Why do I smell ginger?" He asked softly, tilting his head before he sniffed again. "I also smell… cinnamon?"

Hinata smiled before pulling out two boxes from the bad that he was noticing was over her arm. Must be the thing that she bought while in the bakery, though he couldn't help but wonder what it was. There was no way that it could have been bread; it just didn't smell like that no matter how hard you would try. Tilting his head to the side, Naruto accepted the one box that Hinata held out for him before opening it and blinked in surprise. "Ginger cookies?" He asked.

Nodding, Hinata calmly said "ginger is great for your stomach, and I thought you could use something sweet so… ginger cookies." Giggling gently, Naruto turned to stare at her, her pale lavender pools were so happy and carefree; it was as if he was staring at a different person compared to how he normally stared at her. Sure, Hinata had always been nice and a little weird to him but… she was really sweet and caring… "And for me, I bought cinnamon buns." She said with a giggle before opening her own box and started to nibble on the sweet frosted buns of cinnamon.

Taking a deep breath, the young man started to nibble on his cookies and blinked in shock at how good they were. Though he knew that he would have to be careful not to eat them too quickly or ate all of them. Naruto would have to remember to get more of these; they were just as good as ramen. Smiling to himself, the young man looked up and yawned softly. His body and mind were worn out, and just wanted to sleep… that was all he wanted...

Without thinking, he lied his head down on something soft and started to drift off to sleep. What he didn't know though was that he had lied his head down on Hinata's lab… the scent of lavender and vanilla washed itself around him as he slowly started to drift off to sleep. All Hinata could do, was stare at him in shock from the sudden action that Naruto had made, her face went bright red though she didn't faint. Instead, she just ran her fingers through his hair, careful not to wake him… he looked so peaceful as he slept and maybe… that was the first time he had such a peaceful look on his face since he's been gone…

"Rest well Naruto…" whispered Hinata.


	4. Craving of Meat

**Note: sorry that it took so long to write this, I wanted to post this up sooner but I've had some problems that made me have a break down like with trying to get to school but I'm close to getting kicked out so I'm saving the trouble and quitting, I aint meant to go to college if I can't even understand most of the crap that they're trying to teach me... anyway, later everyone.**

* * *

Naruto felt a lot better when he had slept in the park with Hinata. It did make him feel a little better though he wasn't sure what has been going on with him lately. It almost seemed like that no matter what he just couldn't get those noises to stop… In fact, it almost seemed like it got worse as the day went on, so he had to buy something that would stop the noise from getting to him once again. It still had him confused though as to why this was all happening to him in the first place. Though for now he was just going to just ignore it and enjoy his life for the time being.

As soon as he had gotten home, Naruto had bided Hinata farewell and made his way to the bathroom to have a shower. It made him feel a little better, the sound of running water made him feel so relaxed. Yawning softly, Naruto rubbed his eyes before tilting his head back to allow the water to fall on his face as his eyes closed.

So far, he's had a weird sense of smell and now he can hear everything. It was rather odd that he could do that… there had to be something behind it, what it is he didn't think that he would ever figure it out though he knew that he would have to at some point. Inhaling softly, Naruto just wasn't sure what he could do about any of this, should he just ignore all of the troubles that he was having and hope that they go away or just talk to someone about it…?

_'I really do like ignoring it… then I don't have to deal with needles…'_ thought Naruto with a big grin on his face before he grabbed his shampoo and started to lather up his hair as he let out a soft sigh. Though it was still puzzling, what could possibly be wrong with him for this to be happening in the first place? All of it just seemed so wrong to him…

Shaking his head, the young man tilted his head back as he let the water wash out the suds of his shampoo and just relaxed. Why was it that showers always made him feel so much better than before? It all just seemed a little impossible but at the same time, he knew that everyone had something that made them feel relaxed so he figured that a shower was his… It was kinda funny.

Chuckling to himself, the young man yawned softly, running his fingers through the spiky locks to make sure that there wasn't a trace of shampoo in his hair. Frowning in confusion, Naruto wondered why Hinata was passed out with a red face… Did he do something wrong besides falling asleep on her lap? Sure, he didn't really mean for that to happen but he had just been so tired and stressed… Rubbing his ears, Naruto wondered if he would have that trouble from now on… maybe it would be bad for him to try to get some sleep at all… Sighing softly, Naruto didn't know what to do, though for now… he'll sleep with the sound cancellation headphones and of course he gave Hinata a key to come in in case he isn't up when she arrives…

That would be nice… well, at least for her to come in without him having to wake up and yell at her like he did earlier… Sighing, Naruto still felt bad about that… though at least Hinata didn't seem upset with him. In fact, she seemed concern and worried about him and that made him feel even guiltier about yelling at her like that. Sure, he didn't know that it was her at the door but… ugh this was getting him even more pissed…

Growling softly, Naruto shut off the flow of water in the shower, grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his waist as he walked out. Damn it, he had to learn to calm down when something got the better of him though for now he would have to just calm down and relax. He just had to remember that tonight is going to be different, that he will finally get the sleep that he's wanted all day and now he'll be able to get that sleep because of his new purchase.

Giving a small smile, Naruto yawned into the back of his hand as he grabbed his long pajama pants and slipped them on. Not bothering to put on a shirt this time, he was just too tired to care or bother with it tonight. Stretching his arms above his head, Naruto started to brush his teeth quickly, wanting to make sure that they were minty fresh and making his way to bed… Tonight was going to be what he needs it to be, which had him a bit giddy with excitement… _'Silence…'_ thought Naruto with a smile before he reached over the nightstand and pulled out a pair of headphones and slipped them over his ears as he let out a soft sigh of content. It was nice that he could enjoy something like this just so he could get some sleep.

Weird yes, but it would be worth it in the long run. Pulling his blankets back, Naruto lied down as he just looked out the window, wondering if all of this was some sort of inner test or something to do with his family… What if he had some kind of kekkei genkai? He would have to try to figure this out so he could keep this to himself for the time being. Just until he could get some more details about this thing then he would ask Baa-chan about this. Though that was also if he could even figure this out in the first place.

"Why does this all have to be confusing…?" Naruto asked, knowing he spoke the words though just couldn't hear it. Yawning softly, the young man started to nuzzle his pillow before he started to drift off to sleep. Though his dreams were filled with monsters…

* * *

Hinata wondered down the street of Konoha as she tried to think on what she and Naruto could do today. Her mind was still filled with the memory of when Naruto had fallen asleep on her lap. Sure, she didn't mind it when he just laid his head on her lap but when he had started to nuzzle her that was a different story altogether. The young woman just couldn't get herself to stop blushing at the time and had passed out. Now, well the memory of it just made her face red but not enough for her to faint.

Inhaling softly, the young woman stretched her arms above her head as she wondered if Naruto was feeling any better. It would be hard for him to get around with his ears hurting him like it did yesterday. Frowning a bit, the young woman sighed softly, the thought of Naruto being in pain hurt her heart though she wasn't sure if she would be able to get him to relax. It all just seemed difficult for him to live a normal life after the weird attack that he had gone through.

_'What did Naruto go through to cause all of this trouble for him?'_ thought Hinata as she frowned a little more, her lavender coloured eyes sad as she tried to think if Naruto was asleep. What had also confused her though was why he kept asking her if she baked or went through flowers or something. It was rather odd that he would keep asking her that but well; there wasn't much she could do about him asking her anything but it was curious as to why he did though. Sure, she did like to bake all the time but not before she would go on a mission… unless Naruto would join her.

Blushing darkly, the young woman stopped in the street and covered her face as she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. When she had first been assigned to be Naruto's caretaker, she had of course jumped for it but now… she did rather enjoy taking care of him. Trying to get his thoughts together and of course trying to make sure that he didn't need anything else to cause him to have some kind of panic attack of some kind. Running a hand through her hair, the young woman took a deep breath, the young woman started to walk on forward hoping that she would be able to get to Naruto's and that he was awake right now.

It would be nice to see that he was asleep, that he would have had a nice sleep for a change. Yet, it still had her a little concerned about Naruto's health. He wouldn't have been able to sleep at all if it weren't for the headphones that she saw him bought. Though she hoped that it would help him, even if it was only a little bit. Giving a sad smile, the young woman sighed softly and gently as she made her way to the street that had the apartment complex and frowned a bit.

The area was a little noisy so it made Hinata wonder why he even stayed here in the first place. At her home, it was always quite at night but for the crickets and the koi fish but otherwise it was quite. Frowning a little, Hinata shook her head knowing that she shouldn't be thinking about that… at least unless it was absolutely necessary though at the moment it didn't seem that would be the case for the time being.

For now she would just enjoy going to Naruto's home and relax. Or at least trying to get a certain blonde haired shinobi to relax and calm down. _'I wonder if he was able to sleep last night… I hope he doesn't freak out again…'_ Hinata sighed softly, hoping that nothing was going to happen to them… Closing her eyes for a moment, the young woman knew that this was just going to be another day, another day to spend time with Naruto and it would be worth it.

Looking up, the young woman saw Naruto's apartment coming into her line of sight. It was weird that she saw his apartment already but figured that she had been so distracted by her thoughts that she just hadn't really stayed focused on what was going on. "I've got to get my thoughts together…" muttered Hinata as she started to make her way up the sidewalk near the apartment before walking up the stairs. Hinata's lavender coloured eyes were filled with worry before she started to make her way down the hall to get to the door.

Looking around, she saw a lot of kids running around the street, being careful not to run into anyone. Children all just having fun, no care in the world. In a way, it made her think of how Naruto's life had been. For as long as she could remember, he was never allowed to play with other children, and it made her sad to see that so many people wouldn't show him any kind of respect or kindness. Had she been the only one that had showed him the respect that he had deserved as a child? Even if she had been very shy to do so?

Giving a sad smile, the young blue haired woman knew that Naruto had respect from his fellow shinobi and his friends. It was nice to see that so many people would give him the respect he had deserved but still, it made her wish that he had it so much sooner instead of having to wait until the invasion from Pein…

Stopping in front of his door, Hinata just stared at the door that had a smiling frog holding a sign in its webbed hand's saying 'Welcome, Naruto Uzumaki's Apartment' that of course made her smile. For as long as she could remember, he's always had a thing for frogs though she wasn't going to complain about that since she, also found them cute. Smiling gently, Hinata knocked on the door wondering if Naruto would even hear her…

Crossing her arms in deep thought, the young woman hummed a soft tune under her breath before she started to knock on the door again. It was rather odd that he wasn't answering so… maybe he was still sleeping. Tilting her head to the side, the young woman reached into her pocket and fished out the key for Naruto's apartment and unlocked the door. Carefully, the young woman opened the door and let herself in. Taking off her shoes Hinata started to walk down the hall in Naruto's apartment and looked around.

_'I don't hear or see anything to show that he's awake…'_ thought Hinata with confusion before walking on. Sniffing the air, she didn't smell anything cooking so he wasn't making his breakfast. Frowning, Hinata walked a little further into Naruto's apartment and frowned when she started to hear… _'Snoring?'_ she blinked her lavender eyes in shock for a moment before making her way to the bedroom area and of course she saw that Naruto was still asleep, looking peaceful and very well rested. It was nice to see that he had a full night's rest for a change.

Carefully, the young woman made her way toward Naruto though then she remembered that it didn't matter since he had those headphones on that kept himself from hearing anything at the moment. Giving a sad smile, Hinata carefully reached over and gently removed the headsets from Naruto's head before setting them aside on the nightstand.

Soon, the sounds of Naruto's groans heard her, causing the young woman to turn her gaze and looked over at Naruto and frowned a bit. Maybe he could hear everything now that she had removed those headsets from his ears. Now she felt so guilty about all of this…

Sighing softly, Hinata carefully reached over and shook Naruto's shoulder. It was weird that she only felt bare flesh when she grabbed his shoulder… _'Isn't he wearing a shirt?'_ thought Hinata with confusion before shaking her head. "Naruto, it's time to wake up… come on, I bet you're hungry." Hinata said gently, hoping that would wake him up though it seemed that he didn't want to wake up… at least not yet anyway. Maybe he wanted to try to catch up on the sleep that he missed from the night before which she thought was weird since he did after all sleep for a couple days at the hospital after he was brought there…

"Sleep…" mumbled Naruto as he turned over, trying to get himself to stay asleep. When he had turned over, the blankets had slipped down his shoulders, showing that he was, indeed, not wearing a short. Please let him be wearing pants or something… For the love of kami-sama let him be wearing pants. Inhaling softly, the young woman kept on shaking his shoulder, hoping that would wake him up. There was just no way that Naruto could be asleep in bed all day long, it would just seem odd and not to mention he would end up being awake all night.

"Come on Naruto, you gotta get up and get ready." Said Hinata with a frown as she tried to get the sleeping blonde shinobi to wake up and get himself out of bed and ready to greet the day. Sadly though it still seemed that he didn't want to get up, for he still refused to open his eyes and kept on muttering that he wanted to sleep.

Crossing her arms, Hinata pulled the blankets off of Naruto and heard him groan. He was not pleased but at the moment it seemed that she may have to pull out the 'tough love' card so to speak. It was after all the only thing that she could think of that would get him to wake up. Inhaling softly, the young woman crossed her arms as she stared at Naruto, her face was pink at seeing him with nothing but a pair of pajama pants that would have kept him a little warm. Even if it wasn't by much but at least he was covered to some degree. Finally, Naruto started to sit up, blinking his tired blue eyes as he tried to get the fuzziness to leave his mind. A sure sign that he was still half asleep and trying to get himself to wake up but that may be a little harder than it seems.

"Naruto?" Hinata tilted her head, wondering if he even knew that she was here in the first place. It was puzzling, though it still had her curious as to what he was going to do to get himself to wake up. Maybe if she got him some ramen or something he would wake up with just a snap of her fingers.

"H… Hin… ata…?" He tilted his head at her for a moment before grabbing her wrist. As if trying to make sure that he was going to make sure that she was really there. Yet what she hadn't been expecting was for Naruto to suddenly fall toward her. Trying to act quickly, the young woman wrapped her arms around Naruto trying to stop his fall. Though it seemed that it would have been pointless for he had fallen into her, causing Hinata to fall onto the floor and groan out from the pain.

Moaning, Hinata opened her eyes for a brief moment before closing them again. The pain from the back of her head had reached her eyes so everything hurt for a moment. She just thought that it would be a few minutes instead of a few second. Just as she had started to open her eyes, she felt something nuzzling her breasts. Blinking, Hinata looked down and saw that Naruto nuzzled her breasts like she was a pillow. "Soft…" he murmured before falling back asleep. With him being so close, Hinata's face went bright red before she passed out.

* * *

"Hinata I'm still so sorry!" whined Naruto, he had woken up after thirty minutes from falling on Hinata and had spent the hour of them walking around trying to make it up to her. Though he didn't think that what he did would ever be forgiven. Not that he could really blame her for that anyway. No matter what Hinata says though, that it wasn't his fault, that he was asleep, that it could have happened to anyone. Though it still didn't make Naruto feel any better.

"Naruto, it's okay. Let's just have some fun and enjoy ourselves okay?" Hinata said with a smile, not wanting Naruto to feel so guilty though she knew that it would still bother him for a while.

Soon, the sound of a stomach's growl caused both teens to look at the source… Naruto's stomach. Naruto gave a nervous laugh saying "sorry, I haven't eaten yet…" Hinata smiled a little, okay yeah Naruto would have been hungry since after all he was in a hurry to get dressed and leave the place since he felt bad from falling asleep on her. Hinata started to make her way toward the ramen stand that Naruto loves to go to, though he grabbed her wrist, causing her to stop and turn to face him. "I… I don't know why but I'm not in the mood for ramen."

Hinata stared at Naruto for what felt like hours… trying to process what he had just said to her. Naruto… didn't want ramen? He didn't want ramen at all today!? Blinking at him with wide eyes, Hinata had no idea what was going on though there was no way that this could be possible! Trying to put the words, Naruto, and no ramen in the same sentence was impossible and yet he didn't want _any_ at all today!? How was this even possible?!

"I'm kinda in the mood for some meat so maybe… we can try that BBQ place that Choji likes? I heard some great things about that place." Hinata frowned a little but just nodded. What could go wrong with that? She knew that their friend Choji liked that place since he really did like anything that involved BBQ more than anything else. No matter if it was steak, pork, chips. You name it and he'll love it. For now though there wasn't much she could do to change his mind though she still found it odd that he wouldn't want ramen since there was pork ramen…

Following him, Hinata blinked as she looked down and saw that Naruto was still holding her wrist. It was a little weird that he would still be holding her hand though in a way she didn't mind it. This was almost like a dream come true for her. She wasn't just spending time with the man that she had fallen in love with, but he was holding her hand! Well, okay he was holding her wrist but she wasn't going to complain about it. Not at the moment anyway.

As she walked with him, Hinata couldn't help but stare at Naruto… his spiky blonde locks reminded her of sunshine with how bright it was. His blue eyes made her think of the ocean and the sky at the same time with how blue they were. His skin was a little tanned from all the time he spent in the sun but it wasn't overly tanned where you could no longer see the redness in his cheeks when he was embarrassed by something. Even if that wasn't very often, not as much as her anyway. What she had also noticed were the whisker marks that adorn his cheeks. It was rather odd that he would have those marks on his face but, that was what made him different.

How is it that someone like Naruto would have never noticed her feelings for him? Maybe he just wasn't good at seeing people's affections like that since he had grown up alone with no one there for the longest time. It made her sad to think that the only person that was there for him was the Hokage until Iruka-sensei had taken the time to teach Naruto and get to know him like brother's would have.

Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman looked ahead and saw the restaurant not that far from them and let out a soft giggle. "What's so funny Hinata?" asked Naruto as he turned his head to stare at the blue haired woman. In a way it was cute to see Naruto seem so innocent with certain things though at the same time he was bold. She didn't know if it was because he was a pervert or if it was something else, either way she didn't know and knew that he wouldn't change either way.

"Nothing Naruto, nothing." Hinata answered him before walking into the restaurant; it would be nice if they could just have a nice and simple lunch. Though she wasn't much of a meat person so she may end up only ordering something small and let Naruto eat whatever he wanted. Though it did have her curious about the weird craving that he's been having… she's never heard of him having any kind of craving for meat so it did have her a little curious as to what brought this on though she didn't voice her concern about this so long as it wasn't raw meat now that would have had her concerned for his health.

As soon as they walked in and sat down, Naruto didn't waste any time in ordering his lunch. It was rather amazing that he would have ordered so quickly but she wasn't going to complain. Hinata told the waiter that she only wanted a few strips of pork. Maybe later she could go to the bakery and get more cinnamon buns. That would make her feel a little better after eating some meat.

Naruto grinned as he waited for his meal to arrive so he could use the personal grill that was at the booth they say in. It was rather strange that he would be this excited over meat though Hinata still wouldn't question it. Even if it was odd, and not really in Naruto's nature to be as excited about pork as he would have been for ramen but for now she would have to keep this to herself… until it got way out of control.

As soon as the meal arrived though, Naruto quickly set the meat on the grills and watched as they cooked. Naruto licked his lips and there would be a little trickle of drool at the corner of his mouth. Okay, now the young blue haired woman was a little concerned yet not enough to point it out as of yet… she just had to wait is all right? There was no way that this would get any worse than what it was becoming correct?

When the meat was done, Naruto would tear right into the meat like he was some kind of starving animal. It was rather weird to see him eating like this but, maybe he was hungry. He didn't look like he's had a decent meal since he's been home so that would be understandable right? Tilting her head to the side, the young woman nibbled on her pork after cutting into it and tilted her head to the other side as she just watched the young man eat.

Blinking at him in shock Hinata just took another bite of her pork as Naruto started to bite into the third morsel of pork. It just seemed like he would just keep on eating his food and it just made her a little nervous that he would over eat and make himself sick or something. Turning away for a moment, Hinata looked and saw that no one was even looking at Naruto as he ate. Maybe they were either confused, disgusted, or disturbed that if they looked that he would attack them or something. She couldn't really be sure of what was going through their head nor did she care.

Hinata turned back and blinked in shock at what she was seeing. Naruto had ordered more while she wasn't looking. How was it possible for him to have eaten all of that right away? "Are you okay?" asked Hinata with a tilt of her head.

"Yeah, I don't know why but I'm just really hungry for meat." He gave a nervous chuckle before looking up and saw that the waiter had brought a huge tray full of meat. Okay, now Hinata was starting to get a little concerned… okay maybe not a little, a lot. Was this something that she should report to Tsunade or was this just him being hungry after being in the hospital with no food in his system from being asleep for so long finally catching up to him? There was no way of knowing what was the cause of this though she knew that this was going to be something that she would have to mention to Tsunade if it got any worse than what it really was at this moment.

Hinata was still worried about him… Reaching over, being careful not to touch the burner, she gently grabbed a hold of his hand as she gave him a soft smile. "If there is anything that troubles you, including this weird craving you have for meat, let me know okay?"

All the young man could do was nod, he was happy for both Hinata's concern for his health, and because he could finally get back to eating his lunch. Hinata of course, pulled her hand away so he wouldn't bite her by mistake and nibbled on her own pork. Pushing herself to lean back in her seat, the young woman wondered what she was to do while she waited for Naruto to finish his meal. In fact, it almost seemed like the more he ate, the more he could eat since it just seemed that his stomach was a bottomless pit.

Tray among tray, Naruto ate, it just seemed impossible for him to be able to eat all of that. Hell, she didn't think that even Choji would have been able to eat all of that. The large young man would have just gotten sick with the amount that Naruto was eating…

Hinata tilted her head as she stared at him but sighed softly as she finished her own meal and hummed softly as she waited for Naruto to just hurry up and finish. In fact, now that she noticed it, it seemed that he was speeding up in his gorging. Man, this just wasn't normal! Even someone who hasn't eaten in years couldn't eat this much and not get sick or fat! Shaking her head, the young woman knew that she would have to report this to Tsunade, there was just no way that this should have been normal no matter how hungry he was.

After thirty minutes of eating, Naruto was finally full and that was when they both received the bill. Hinata's lavender eyes were wide as she stared at the amount of pork that Naruto had managed to put away… and the price for all of this. Rubbing her forehead, Hinata reached into her pocket and pulled out a wad of money and paid it off.

"I… I'm sorry Hinata." Came Naruto's quite voice, causing her to blink at him. That was a first, for as long as she had known him he's never been one to be this quite. In fact, he was normally loud but now he sounded like a child that was about to be scolded. "I don't know why I ate so much… I really am sorry."

Sighing softly, Hinata pushed herself up from her seat and moved over to Naruto and pulled him up to his feet. "Naruto, don't worry about it okay? Sure, you ate more than Choji's entire clan but still, you couldn't help bit…" Naruto just gave her a sad smile, as they left though, Hinata just rubbed his back while she thought about trying to find a way to explain this to Tsunade… _'There is no way that she would believe me…'_ thought Hinata with a sad mental sigh.


	5. Night Vision and Something More?

Stretching his arms above his head, Naruto paced around his room as he tried to think on what had been happening to him lately. Okay, so far this week he's been smelling and hearing things that a normal human shouldn't be able to smell. Such as Hinata's scent… though he still wasn't sure if that was her natural scent. There had to be more to this than meets the eye right? Damn it this was freaking him out…

Rubbing his face, Naruto still couldn't believe that he had eaten so much meat yesterday. That had really bothered him, how was it that he could eat that much and yet not have gained anything? It was as if he hadn't had a decent meal, or food at all for that matter, in years. Hell, he had been surprised that Hinata didn't get disgusted with the way he had been eating. Falling back onto his bed, Naruto draped his arm over his eyes as he tried to get himself to relax.

Honestly, Naruto didn't think he would ever figure this out, he didn't think that he would have been able to get this all figured out for that matter though knew that something was up. That there would be something that he would never understand yet at the same time he felt like he would understand it within time.

"Life is complicated…" mumbled Naruto before turning over and lied on his stomach as he looked outside. The only thing that didn't bother him this morning was that he had a good night sleep for a change so that made him a little happy, that it made him feel a little better so he didn't seem so tired and now he won't fall asleep on Hinata again when she came to get him. Tilting his head a bit, the young man sighed softly as he sniffed the air. There wasn't a trace of Hinata's scent yet so she was still at home possibly and he didn't hear anything outside so maybe that would be something that would make him feel better…

It gave him some time to think at least.

What was going to happen to him next? Looking around, Naruto didn't notice anything different so far so maybe those weird things that have been happening to him finally disappeared? That would make some sense though sadly, he could still remain such as his hearing and smell. Not to mention he still had that craving for meat and it made him hungry. Maybe he and Hinata could get some take out when they left for that walk. After all, Hinata did seem excited to just go for a walk with him through the park so that could be something that they could enjoy at the very least.

Rolling back onto his back, the blonde haired young man sighed softly as he tried to think on what he could do… it all just seemed that no matter what he just couldn't think on what was the cause of all of this. The only thing he could think of is that it was part of some kind of bloodline that just started to awaken from his attack. That was all he could think of but there was no way that it could have been that, if that was the case wouldn't the old man have told him when he was still alive?

"This is confusing; maybe I should just stop thinking about it. It isn't like I'm hurting anyone right?" Naruto said to himself, only to push himself up from his bed and made his way to his cupboards to get something to snack on while he waited for Hinata. That was something that he could do at least.

As he rummaged around trying to find something to eat, Naruto could faintly catch the scent of lavender and vanilla, though he couldn't help but smile softly. Why was it that her scent could easily relax him? That no matter what he just couldn't get himself to stop sniffing at her scent… Now that he thought about it, Naruto did have a dream last night of him holding Hinata and just inhaling her soft scent but no matter what he just couldn't get enough of that wonderful scent of hers.

Inhaling softly, the young man took a deep breath as he just enjoyed the scent as it started to come closer to him and closer. Hand dropping from the counter and falling limp at his side, Naruto just closed his eyes as he enjoyed the scent. Soon that wonderful scent would be closer to him though Naruto knew that he would have to snap out of it soon enough, he had to snap out of it when Hinata got here. There was no way that she would have enjoyed that he was getting that close to her like he did those two times… such as falling asleep on her lap and of course falling on her when he was half asleep.

All of this was bothering him and it made him just want to enjoy his life the way it was before though sadly he knew that, that wouldn't happen now.

Shaking his head, Naruto took a deep breath as he grabbed a fruit bar, it would have to do for now until he could go out and get some meat. As soon as he took a bite, Naruto felt a little sick though he knew that he had to keep eating it. It had to be good for his stomach right? Groaning, he finished off the bar only to cover his mouth and ran to his bathroom and closed the door behind him. Why couldn't these things be any good for him? There was no way that the bar had gone bad, he just bought them maybe two weeks ago…

So what the hell was going on?

This was just weird that it would cause this to happen to him. Moaning, Naruto hurled into the toilet as he heard a knock at his door. "Come in…" Groaned Naruto before he puked once again. He knew that it was Hinata, though he had hoped that she would have been gone a little while longer since he was right here and puking his guts out.

"Oh my god Naruto what's wrong?" asked Hinata as she rushed to his side and started to rub his back. "I'm getting Tsunade, this must be some kind of infection from that attack and-"

"No… I… I'm just sick to my stomach Hinata. I ate something that I guess didn't agree with me." Answered Naruto, he felt sick still though at least he wasn't going to puke anymore. It just seemed rather odd that he was sick from a fruit bar though shook his head before shakily pushed himself up onto his feet and made his way to the sink, with Hinata's help and he flushed the toilet while using the sink as support.

"Just sit down; I'll make something to help settle your stomach okay?" Hinata whispered gently before helping Naruto to his bed and sat him down. This was weird for him that was for sure though at the moment he didn't really mind. It was nice that someone would want to take care of him though… it did have him curious as to why she would go this far just to look after him? Looking up at Hinata, Naruto couldn't help the soft blush that dusted his cheeks in a soft pink only to shake his head and look away.

Just what was wrong with him? All of this was confusing and it had him a little confused as to why this was happening though for the time being, he would just have to deal with the problems at hand and just try to make sure that he didn't worry Hinata to the point that it made her cry… that was the last thing that he wanted to do to her was to make her cry.

"Here drink this…" Hinata whispered gently, her voice made Naruto's heart beat so quickly that it felt like it would burst from his chest. Whatever was happening to him he didn't know though at the moment he had to keep them to himself, he couldn't allow himself to follow the weird feelings that were swirling around in his heart and soul. Inhaling softly yet deeply, Naruto gave her a soft smile before he accepted the cup and carefully sipped at it. It wasn't that bad and… it's weird that he didn't feel sick from it.

"Thanks Hinata." Naruto whispered gently, he did appreciate what she was doing for him though it was still so new to him. No one had ever… Shaking his head, Naruto couldn't finish that sentence. It wouldn't last and he knew that all too well. At some point, he'll be well enough to go back to his shinobi duties and Hinata wouldn't be bothered with someone like him anymore. After that, they would go their separate ways and nothing was going to stop that from happening.

"So, what were these fruit bars that you were eating?" asked Hinata with confusion. Frowning at her, Naruto pointed at the counter where the box was and a wrapper that he left on the counter. The blue haired woman made her way to the counter and pulled up the box and read while mumbling under her breath. Such as how it's still good for another half a month, and read off what was in it though the only words he could make out were 'apple' and 'chocolate' that was one of the main reasons why he picked those bars was because they put chocolate in it. Yet, for some reason the word chocolate started to make him feel sick again… what was with that?

Shaking his head, Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he tried to get himself to calm down before he sipped a little more of the tea. At least he couldn't deny that the tea didn't make him feel better, he started to feel like a million ryo that was for sure.

Inhaling softly, he whispered "thanks Hinata, I do feel a lot better." He let out a soft sigh before he pushed himself up onto his feet and took a deep shaky breath. "I'm just gonna brush my teeth real quick before we leave…" He gave her a soft smile before walking into the bathroom. Everything was sure wrong with him lately… At least his hearing had finally gotten under control, he would have to make sure that he just focused on certain sounds and he wouldn't have to worry about any headaches anymore. Though he would still have to sleep with the headphones on his head to stop the loud noises to hit his ears in the middle of the night.

When he walked into the bathroom, Naruto started to brush his teeth, wanting to make sure that he got the taste of bile off of his tongue and teeth. At least he didn't taste it when he was given that tea so that was something.

Shaking his head, Naruto kept brushing his teeth, his mind in some sort of trance as he did. Naruto could hear the voices of people screaming in his head. People running and begging, pleading for their lives to be spared. The faces of the people were those who he called his friend's, and someone that he would call someone that was dear to his heart but… Sakura's face faded from his mind and was replaced by Hinata's. Blinking in shock, the teenager shook his head as he tried to get himself to calm down. Just what the hell was wrong with him!?

Spitting out the foam from his mouth, the young man rinsed out his mouth before he gargled on some mouth wash and spit it out into the sink and started to wipe his mouth on a wash rag. He had to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid… he had to make sure that Hinata had some kind of fun while they were out walkthrough town… At least he didn't want to eat at the moment; the bar really did make him lose the desire to eat right now…

* * *

Naruto thought that a walk through the park would be something… sure they've walked through the park before though that was mostly because his ears were hurting him… and it felt like his ears were about to bleed from all the noise that was through his brain.

Shaking his head, the young man tried to get himself to calm down and relax. It just seemed… weird that he was walking through the park with Hinata… Sure, for a long time he had wanted to walk through the park with Sakura but she always turned down his offers for dates, including to get a bite to eat. Hinata though, she always walked with him and in fact it almost made it seem like she was enjoying herself a great deal.

"Hey, Hinata, are you having fun looking out for me? I mean… you could be doing other things and yet you're looking after me…" Naruto whispered softly, he felt like he was going to keep her from doing what she had to do, or from what she wanted to do. Hinata just smiled up at him, the way that she smiled made it seem like she was like sunshine that was how bright that her smile was right now and it made his heart race for a brief moment.

Giggling softly, Hinata responded with "Naruto, I enjoy spending time with you. Don't worry about any of this okay? I enjoy spending time with you so don't worry." It wasn't much of an answer but it did make Naruto feel a little better. In fact, it made him think that Hinata really… no, she had to be thinking that she hated this that she had other things but… of course he was just assuming of what she was really thinking.

Running a hand through his hair, the young man kept on walking with Hinata through the park. He thought that it was rather interesting to see so many people in the park today… it just seemed so… weird and at the same time it was interesting that they could see so many people who were happy. In a way, it made Naruto want to know what it would be like to be that happy. It was just a dream though… he felt like he didn't deserve any kind of happiness though at the same time it didn't stop him from trying to achieve that kind of happiness.

Giving a soft smile, the young man took a deep breath before he stretched his arms above his head and looked around a little more before he turned his head forward once again… only to freeze in his tracks. Pale lavender eyes were staring at him, worry clear in her gaze as she reached up and carefully placed her hand on his forehead before slowly trailing it down to his cheek. "You don't have a fever but your cheeks are warm…" she whispered softly.

The young man could hear the sound of their hearts beating… he could smell her scent; it was so much stronger now though he tried to ignore it. Hinata's scent wrapped itself around the both of them though it was easy to see that the Hyuuga heiress didn't notice it, it was only him that was noticing the scent as it wrapped itself around the two of them.

In fact, Naruto couldn't help but close his eyes for a moment… he just wanted to enjoy the moment as it seemed to pass on by the two of them. The more he thought about it, the more Naruto couldn't help but think on about what would have happened if it was Hinata that he had first started to grow feelings for… she was always there for him even when he never noticed it… he had heard from people that Hinata was always watching him and that she chose to follow his shinobi way because she believed in it, and believed in him.

Though… you couldn't force someone to fall in love right?

Nuzzling her hand, the young man let out a soft sigh before his eyes snapped open and he moved his head away from her hand and gave a soft smile. "I'm fine Hinata, don't worry." He chuckled before he started to walk on forward… _'I can't believe I was thinking all of that…'_ thought Naruto with a sigh before he shook his head and tried to get himself to calm down. He had to get himself to relax, knowing that if he didn't there was a good chance that he was going to end up doing that again.

Closing his eyes for a moment, the young man looked up at the sky and squinted his eyes, today was going to be a long day though for now he was just going to try to have a nice day with Hinata before ordering himself a late night bowl of pork ramen. Maybe that would make him feel a little better after the bar problem he had this morning… That would be nice, yet that was also depending that he did have a desire to eat tonight…

Blushing a little, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest before he turned toward Hinata as he said "hey, Hinata… I wanna say thanks for looking after me. I may not seem like I appreciate it but I really do… even if I don't seem like I do, just know that I do appreciate what you've been doing for me and for putting up with me this week." He chuckled softly before he started to walk on ahead. Missing that the blue haired woman was blushing darkly as he walked on ahead of her.

* * *

After Naruto walked Hinata home, he told her that he would be fine walking home since he did keep her out late… Wait, why did he make it sound like it was a date? Face heating up again, the young man shook his head as he tried to get himself to calm down and get his heart to stop beating so damn quickly. As he walked home, Naruto couldn't help but think about what Hinata had said to him, and how she had stared at him as if he was crazy.

When she had decided to head home, Naruto of course had asked her why she wanted to head home for two reasons…

One, he had lost track of time so he didn't really know what time it was so there was no idea how he would have known what time it really was in the day. At first though he didn't mention anything about how early it was until Hinata had said something that made him think about the second reason as to why she stared at him like he had been crazy…

The second reason was that she told him it was dark out. Yet, to him it was still as bright as the morning outside so it made him curious as to why it was dark for Hinata, but light for him. Was this another thing that he had to be worried about? That he had night vision? Hm… then again, since it was night vision Naruto thought that maybe he could use this to his advantage. It was pretty cool that he could enjoy things like this.

As he wondered through the streets, Naruto couldn't help but wonder though what he could use this night vision for. There wasn't really much that he could do with it though in Konoha. Sure, he could use it but just not in Konoha since the Anbu were able to handle all of that themselves.

Shaking his head, the young man thought that maybe he should just grab some ramen to go and head to bed or something but then again… he still wasn't in the mood to eat. It just seemed like the chocolate really did a number on his system today. Shaking his head, the young man kept on walking down the street, he saw some kids that were just heading inside with their family, and of course some couples that were using the 'night' to their advantage even if to him it still looked like it was day time. Frowning a bit, Naruto shook his head as he made his way to apartment complex.

Tonight was going to be interesting with the power to see in the dark. Then again, Jiraiya would have used that for his so called 'research' for those dirty books of his. Stretching his arms above his head, Naruto couldn't help but notice that he was really tired… now that he thought about it he was always so tired at night though he wasn't as tired in the day anymore when he got those headsets of his though it still wasn't enough for him.

Frowning in thought, Naruto wondered what was going to happen to him in the morning now… every day he was going through something new and now it was puzzling as to what was going to happen tomorrow. This was going to be difficult for him though for the time being it would just have to do. Inhaling, the young man unlocked his door as soon as he realised that he got to his apartment and unlocked the door and walked on inside and winced at how bright it got when he turned on the lights. Flicking the light off, the young man shook his head and just stripped down and made his way to his bed… He was going to have to leave the lights off now… well; at least it saved him money on hydro.

Though sadly it seemed that sleep wouldn't be so easy for him. The bright light or he should say his 'night vision' was making it hard for him to sleep in his apartment. Groaning, he reached over into his nightstand and pulled out his hat and pulled it over his head and over his eyes, after that he grabbed his headset and slipped them over his ears.

It seemed though his sleeping cap wasn't really that much help for him. Frowning, he groaned a little as he muttered "night vision isn't worth this…" he growled a little before turning over onto his side and started to drift off to sleep… maybe he'll fall asleep… at least that was what he was hoping for that would be the case. Sleep was the only thing that got him away from all the craziness that he was going through… Though as he slept, Naruto had started to have weird dreams, dreams that he didn't understand though what he did know was that it didn't involve that attack that he had when coming home with Sasuke after getting him back. In fact, it was a pleasant dream just not a dirty one.

Frowning a little, Naruto tried to get that dream to leave him alone, though it seemed that the dream was trying to tell him something. It was trying to tell him something important though it just didn't want to leave his mind… Normally when he had dreams of what was important, it was of Sakura and how much he loved her though this time, Sakura wasn't part of this dream… no, it was someone else that seemed to have become of greater importance to him…

_'Who became more important to me than Sakura?'_ thought Naruto as he tried to reach the person that was in his dream. Whoever this person was they made his heart beat so quickly that in his dream his heart really did burst from his chest, causing him to yelp out in shock as he stared at his own beating heart on the ground.

"You fool… the person that should mean more to you is her!" shouted his heart as it pointed its artery ahead of the blonde haired teen, standing in the far distance was a woman that he knew so well… after all, he should since he's been seeing her all week…

"Hinata…" he whispered softly, both in his dream, and in the real world.


	6. Quick Note

Quick note here, I'm gonna put this story on hold for a little while. No, I'm not going to forget about this story, it's just that I've been reading a lot of SessKag stories for a little while so I'm gonna give that pairing a shot and write ONE fanfic and I promise that once that story is done I'll go back to this and maybe I'll have an awesome idea for the next chapter. Later everyone.


	7. Tight Shirt and Flying Stick

Naruto groaned softly, his body felt sore and stiff though he knew that something was wrong… Something was always wrong when it came to his mornings. Blinking slowly, he sighed softly and pushed himself out from his bed and made his way to the bathroom. He would have to be very careful, if there was one thing he knew, it was that he was going through some kind of changes, and the nine tails wasn't behind it anymore and it had him confused and in fact, worried about what was happening to him.

As he walked over to the bathroom, Naruto was trying to figure out what that one dream had been about. It had been rather weird that in his dream, his heart had burst from his chest and pointed out to Hinata though it must have meant something else. Why would Hinata mean more to him than Sakura?

None of this was making sense to him though maybe a nice shower would clear his thoughts. That was definitely what he needed right now. Frowning, the blonde haired young man noticed something rather odd… his shoulders brushed against the door way of the bathroom. That was weird… Frowning a little, he looked over and saw that his shoulders looked a little broader… That was weird… he's never had broad shoulders before… at least not to this point. _'Maybe I had a growth spurt in my sleep…'_ thought Naruto with a shrug before he stripped and stepped into the shower as he started to get himself washed up. Today, he was going to try to figure out what the hell is wrong with him… and of course spend time with Hinata.

Inhaling softly, the young man lathered up his hair and his body as he tried to get his thoughts in order. Everything seemed to have been acting weird lately. Maybe he should see Tsunade about the weird things he's been going through lately but… _'No, I can't… I'll be experimented on…' _thought the young shinobi before letting out a soft sigh and leaned his head back and just let the water wash over him.

Naruto knew that there was something wrong with him, and it had something to do with the beast that had attacked him, though he still wasn't sure just _what_ it did to him though he would find out no matter what.

Sighing, the young man watched as all the suds just flowed down his body and down the drain… it made him wonder if that would happen to him and Hinata. Once he was deemed fit to go back to his duties, would that mean that whatever happens to the relationship he had made with her, well their friendship, just go down the drain much like the suds that once resided on his person? He didn't know, and for some reason, it had him scared and afraid that it would.

"I'm just being stupid." Muttered Naruto before he rinsed out his hair and made sure that his body was squeaky clean before he stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his hips before he started to dry out his hair. "I'll just have to wait and see what will be store with me. Besides, I bet those weird transformations or whatever is done. I don't have anything to worry about." Declared Naruto as he hung the towel over the towel rack and started to comb his hair, even though his hair would just go back to its usual style.

Looking up at his reflection, Naruto tilted his head, everything seemed to be normal on him besides his shoulders being a little wider though there was something else but he just couldn't think what it could be. Shrugging to himself, the young man grabbed the clothes that he had carried in with him and slipped them on, only to blink in confusion. His black t-shirt that he kept on underneath his jacket was snug on him… Not just on his shoulders but around his chest and abdomen which he found rather odd.

Shaking his head, the young man grabbed his jacket and tried to zip it up. Thinking that maybe he was just dealing with a little problem with either a growth spurt like he originally thought, or his clothes shrunk in the wash.

_'Yeah, they shrunk in the wash…'_ thought Naruto in denial, not wanting to accept that he grew at all in any sense. Looking out the window, he saw that it wasn't noon yet so maybe he and Hinata could just go for a walk around town that would be something at the very least, though it still had him a little confused if he would have that uncontrollable desire for meat again like the other day. Frowning a little, the young man knew that he had to keep himself calm and composed, he had to or he'd look like a fool in front of Hinata and that was the last thing that he wanted.

Yawning into the back of his hand, the young man was still confused as to why his pants seemed like they still fit him, not by much though they still had a lot more room than his torso, shoulder and arms. Damn it, this was all so very confusing and it was starting to bother him… Hm… Walking out of his bathroom, he made his way to his nightstand and opened the drawer before grabbing his wallet. It was full, though would it be enough for him to buy a few new outfits?

Groaning, he slipped his wallet into his pocket before walking over to his front door. Maybe he had some time to get to a clothing store before Hinata would arrive? He couldn't really be sure though it didn't hurt to be careful since he didn't want to walk around wearing what he was for too long. Sure, his pants were fine though sadly he was worried about his t-shirt and unzipped jacket since it wouldn't zip up anymore without cutting off some air flow or movements. Before he even reached for the door, Naruto captured the scent of lavender and vanilla causing him to smile a little. Hinata sure did like to come here early…

Taking a deep breath, the young man opened the door and smiled at Hinata. "Hey Hinata, I was just about to head out to get some new clothes. Wanna come?" asked Naruto, not noticing that Hinata's face had gone bright red from her staring at his chest. He didn't even notice that Hinata looked like she would have fainted right then and there, though when he did notice, Hinata was in fact, about to fall over. "Hinata!"

* * *

"I'm so sorry Hinata, I didn't mean to make you faint." Sighed Naruto as he walked with Hinata to the clothing store. It took roughly thirty minutes for him to get Hinata to wake up though it took a little longer to make sure that she wouldn't faint again. Looking over at the blue haired woman, he saw that her face was still red from… whatever it was that caused her to faint but he just knew that it was somehow his fault for what he had done to her.

Hinata peeked up at Naruto for a brief moment before looking away. It looked like she wouldn't really speak to him, not that he could blame her for that. Sighing softly, the young man looked ahead, just thankful that they were close to a clothing store. Maybe if he got some new shirts Hinata would be able to stare at him- wait… why was he thinking that a new shirt would work? It wasn't like she had blushed and nearly fainted because of his tight revealing shirt right? Shaking his head, the young man turned to Hinata as he said "I'll be trying on shirts so… um… I need your help to toss some shirts over to me so I can see if they fit… okay?"

His only answer from her was a nod of her head. Things just couldn't get any easier for him could it? Sighing softly, the young man stretched his arms above his head, not noticing that his shirt rose a bit from the movement as he walked in the store and stated to look through some shirts. Grabbing the ones that he normally wears size wise of course and that were also mixtures of orange, black or even white. After grabbing a few shirts, Naruto made his way to the changing room and started to try them all on. Hoping, praying, that they would fit…

Only for those hopes to be dashed… for none of them even fit him anymore, and they in fact, didn't fit as well as his other shirt for it had stretched to fit him, while these could not.

"Damn it." Muttered Naruto as he removed the shirts over the door of the dressing room and rubbed his forehead. "Hinata, can you get me some bigger shirts please? These don't fit me…" whined Naruto, not liking the idea of these shirts not fitting him; in fact, it annoyed him a great deal. Sure, it was nice to have a more muscular body but to this extent? This just didn't seem natural since he didn't have these extra muscles last night and it was really starting to worry him.

He didn't know if she heard him but, he had a feeling that she did for as soon as Naruto had asked that of Hinata, one of the shirts disappeared from above the door and the sound of walking was heard. It had him curious as to what size he needed now. All of this was confusing him… first a great sense of smell, hearing… that weird craving for meat and of course the night vision. That still bothered him and it had him worried about his health.

Leaning into the wall, Naruto let out a soft sigh as he tried to get himself to relax… maybe all of this stress was getting to him. Maybe it was best that he went to get a stress test or something. "Hey Hinata, how are you?" said a voice, causing Naruto to blink and stand up on his toes and peeked up over the door. Standing by the shirts rack was a teen with spiky brown hair, slightly tanned skin. His eyes looked like an animals to him, and on his face were two red triangles that in a way, resembled fangs for his clan. His clothes were a leather form fitting black jacket, with zips over the chest and sleeves, along with black pants and sandals, also zipped, matching the jacket.

"Oh, hello Kiba, I'm just helping Naruto. His shirts don't fit very well anymore so I'm helping him out." Said Hinata, squinting his eyes, Naruto saw outside the store was a giant white dog with brown ears and a little brown nose. The dog's fur was a little spikey though it suited the dog just fine.

For some reason, Naruto didn't like it that Kiba was talking to Hinata. He felt something deep down telling him to keep Kiba, and any male, away from her. Though he just wasn't sure what would have caused this though for the time being, he kept it to himself. Inhaling softly, the young man went back in the changing room and rubbed his forehead, just wanting to ignore all of this and pretend that there was nothing wrong with him, just that he was being a little over protective of Hinata. Why that is, he still didn't know and had a feeling that he would never know.

"So he needs new shirts? How much of a growth spurt can he go through? He's always been short." Declared Kiba, his voice also laced with a hint of confusion. Naruto sighed softly; it wasn't his height that was affected sadly. Sure, he wouldn't mind being taller though that wasn't the case with this, at least not at the moment anyway.

"Well, he didn't get taller…"

"Oh god, don't tell me he got fat! That isn't possible!" shouted Kiba.

Oh that was it. Slamming the door open, Naruto marched over to Kiba as he said "I didn't get fat you asshole!" He wanted to grab Kiba and shake him about until he passed out from being dizzy. He didn't care if that made sense or not he was angry and wanted to bop him on the head. Narrowing his eyes, he said "I swear if you call me fat again I'll make sure Choji hears about it as well and you know how he hates that word."

Kiba just stared at Naruto with wide eyes. "Holy shit, Naruto you got ripped! Have you been working out while recovering or what?!" shouted Kiba. Naruto frowned and looked down at himself. Huh… he was just noticing it but he knew that he had been fighting fit but he never knew that it got to this point. Shaking his head, Naruto muttered about growth spurts and made his way back to the changing room and closing the door behind him. "What happened to him Hinata?" asked Kiba.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. He was wearing tight clothes when I met up with him today and he wanted to get some new shirts. Oh!" Hinata rushed over to Naruto's changing room and tossed a shirt to him. "How about this Naruto? It's a little bigger." Naruto accepted the red shirt from Hinata, kinda upset that it wasn't orange but it would have to do. At this point, anything was better than walking around shirtless.

Inhaling softly, Naruto walked out of the room, the shirt fit him perfectly. It wasn't too large, and it wasn't too tight on him. Though he still didn't like the colour… "Do they have orange or black?" asked Naruto as he turned to stare at Hinata and frowned a bit when he saw her face going as red as his shirt. "You okay?" asked Naruto as he placed a hand on Hinata's forehead, wondering if she was okay… Odd, she didn't have a fever…

"Naruto, just go back in the changing room, I'll see if I can find some orange and black shirts for you while Hinata recollects herself." Said Kiba before walking away go find some shirts, well at least after asking Naruto the size of the shirt he was wearing.

Breathing deeply, Naruto knew that today just couldn't get any worse for him, there was no way that it could since he had to deal with so many changes just this week than he has in his whole life! Shaking his head, the young man knew that he would have to stay calm, he would have to make sure that he could try to figure this out before talking to baa-chan about this, he didn't want to worry her over nothing… The thought of it made him want to sigh, knowing fully well that if he wasted her time for nothing there would be a good chance that he would get low ranked missions for years.

Shaking his head, the young man stretched his arms above his head and waited for Kiba to come on back with the shirts that he said he would get. Listening carefully, the young man heard Hinata's breathing returning to normal, as was her heart beating… odd, it was rather strange that her heart would beat that quickly. What was wrong with her? Was there some sort of medical condition that he didn't know about or was it something else? He didn't know but he would have to be careful with Hinata, he wanted to make sure that she would be healthy like how she was trying to make sure that he was healthy.

"Yo, Naruto, got some shirts in orange and black for ya!" called Kiba as he tossed maybe five shirts into the changing room. At least he would have something clean to wear for a while. Taking a deep breath, the young man stretched his arms as he thanked Kiba for helping out. Yawning softly, the young man tried on the other shirts and smiled, all of them fit though he would at least keep the red shirt since it was one that Hinata picked for him…

Wait, why did he want to keep a shirt that Hinata kept? Shaking his head, the young man put on the red shirt and removed the tag so he could get that scanned or so, that way he can leave and wear a good shirt. Making his way to the counter, Naruto paid for the shirts and looked over at Hinata and smiled at her as he said "you feeling better Hinata?" She just nodded, her smile was faint yet it held a radiance that made him want to blush a dark red.

Gulping, Naruto tried to get himself to calm down, he knew that this was going to be an interesting day though he couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen now… blinking, he looked over and saw the white dog, which he remembered was Kiba's dog Akamaru sat by Kiba holding a stick. Guess he wanted to play… "So Akamaru you wanna play fetch huh?" said Kiba with a chuckle before grabbing the stick from the dog's mouth and chuckled as he flicked it a bit while it was in his hand. As if trying to make sure that Akamaru was focused on the stick… and he hated to admit it, but Naruto was focused on the stick as well.

"Go get it Akamaru!" shouted Kiba as he threw the stick. The white dog took off as fast as he could, heading toward the park so he could get the stick. Though he wasn't the only one that ran after the stick… Naruto did as well. He had the desire to catch the stick and bury it or something. Though he wasn't sure what was wrong with him, hell, he wasn't even thinking at the moment.

Naruto managed to pick up the stick, only thing he didn't use his hands. He had literally used his teeth to pick it up and started to dig a hole in the ground. Though thank god that no one was around to watch this. As he dug the hole, Naruto's mind was in some kind of haze, he didn't even notice Hinata and Kiba running up behind him. It seemed rather weird that Naruto was acting like this; Hinata was worried over the blonde haired teen. "Naruto?" He heard her, though he didn't respond to her… all he was focused on was digging the damn hole and burying this stick.

"Hinata, stay back… something isn't right with Naruto." Said Kiba as he walked toward the blonde haired teen. He was careful with his steps, not wanting to startle Naruto, knowing that if he did there was a good change of him being attacked or something. He had only seen this happen a few times in his clan when a dog lost its control and attacked its owner after trying to bury a bone that it stole once.

Gulping, the brown haired teen carefully made his way to Naruto as he said "hey man, you alright? Why are you burying a stick?" His answer was Naruto turning his head and growling at him, almost like that of a wild animal or a wolf. He didn't know but it caused Kiba to move back. Even the teen that worked with dogs growing up. Shaking his head, the teen calmly said "Naruto, just calm down okay…?" He reached out for the stick, which to him was a dumb move on his part since you never take things from a dog though he didn't think it would be like that since Naruto wasn't a dog.

Naruto attacked and pinned Kiba to the ground and looked ready to swipe his newly grown claws only to blink when something, or should he say, some_one_ had grabbed a hold of his wrist. Turning his head to stare at whoever grabbed him, Naruto blinked his blank eyes at Hinata and saw tears in her pale lavender eyes. "Stop Naruto, please…"

Blinking his eyes, Naruto's eyes started to clear, started to come into focus as he stared at Hinata with horror. Getting off Kiba, and moving away from both Hinata and Kiba, he did the only thing that he could do… he ran.


	8. Attraction and Confession

Naruto hid in his home after that… he couldn't face Hinata or anyone for that matter. The thought of him growling at Hinata, of what could have happened… It made him shiver at the thought of it. Grabbing at his hair, Naruto tried to focus, tried to think back on what he had been thinking on at the time… Yet, the only thing that would go through his mind was what he could have done to Hinata. Wiping his face, Naruto pushed himself up and made sure that the chain was in place, he didn't want Hinata to get in, not when she has a key…

He couldn't allow her to see him… he didn't want to see anyone for that matter. Looking out the window, Naruto sighed softly before closing and locking the windows. The young man had to make sure that no one came into his room, his home… he wanted to be left alone. That was the only thing he wanted right now, was to be alone…

Wiping his face again, Naruto took a deep and shuddering breath before he made his way over to his bed and fell over. Breathing softly yet sadly, the young man looked up from his pillow for a moment and saw that it was only the afternoon… He had a lot of time to spend but to be honest; he just wanted to stay where he was…

Laying his head on his pillow, Naruto just wanted to forget about all of the pain and torment that he had been going through. It just seemed that no matter what, there would be something that would try to hurt him or mess with his mind.

Closing his eyes, the young man thought that maybe a nice sleep would be enough to get his mind to calm down and relax. That was all he wanted right now… just to sleep and calm down. Though would that be enough for him? Would that be enough for him to calm down and relax so he would be able to sleep peacefully and enjoy his life? Shaking his head, the young man yawned into the back of his hand before burying his face in his pillow and slowly started to drift off to sleep.

_As he slept, weird images would go through his mind. He would see a monster trying to hurt him only for its sights to land on someone else. Naruto wanted to protect the mysterious person though there was more to this… It seemed like no matter what Naruto did, nothing would help him to stop this monster… In fact, the monster that he was fighting was the same one that had attacked him. He wanted the power to destroy it, to protect those dear to him…_

_Naruto turned his gaze onto the person that was trying to fight off the beast, screaming for help. The young shinobi rushed forward, but something held him back. Turning back, he saw something in the shadows, though he didn't know what it was… only for a pair of blue eyes to be staring down at him. "She will die… unless you accept my power and strength. Once the original one is destroyed, you may, or may not lose this power."_

_"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto with confusion._

_The shadow was silent, as if trying to choose his words carefully. Naruto wasn't sure if he would even get an answer in the first place… It all just seemed pointless; after all, it wasn't like anything could happen right? No one was in danger and he didn't need to protect someone at the moment so nothing would be wrong, everything would be perfectly fine and he knew that… yet he felt like this person's words would ring true…_

_"The only way to fight the monster is with its own power. You will find out when the time is right Naruto, though until then… there is nothing I can do to help you… Just know, you won't remember anything until then…"_

_Still not getting it… he really just didn't understand what was being said, though he had a feeling that he wouldn't understand either way._

_"Tomorrow night Naruto…" said the mysterious person before he disappeared in the shadows. Naruto called out for him, though didn't know what he was talking about. What was there to happen tomorrow night? Was there something interesting that was going to happen that he didn't know of or was there something else? Something big was happening, though he just didn't know what would happen… but he would do whatever he could to stop it from happening and protect that person from anything that wishes to cause him, or her harm._

_"What harm would come though…" Naruto asked, not really expecting an answer from anyone in particular. It just didn't seem that anyone would even notice though… notice that there was a danger when even he didn't know how, or when it would happen. Letting out a soft sigh, he turned around and saw that beast again. The same one that had attacked him, it was growling at him with a smirk on its face._

_"What do you want from me?!" shouted Naruto._

_"Revenge… revenge shall be mine!" shouted the beast, it laughed like a mad man. Okay, first the guy wants Naruto to join him and now he wants revenge? For what? What the hell did he ever do to this wolf-man in the first place for him to even want revenge? None of this was making sense and it was enough to want to drive Naruto to insanity. Though he had to stay sane, knowing that if he went insane that he would only worry Hinata and that made his heart ache._

_"She won't accept you," smirked the wolf-man, causing Naruto to look up in confusion and shock. What did he mean? No, that isn't right… Hinata wouldn't turn him away for anything and he knew! He knew her better than anyone! Hinata was a kind and loving woman and she would never turn her back on anyone ever! She never has and never would. "Once she finds out that you are nothing but a monster to be, you will be alone and you will join me."_

_"Never." Growled Naruto, he would never join anyone. Not so long as there was some good in this world, no, even then he would never join the side of darkness. He would remain true and honourable, he would never hurt anyone. Not so long as he could help it._

_The wolf-man chuckled darkly as he looked out in the distance. What was he looking at? Then again, how was he really sure if he was really a he. For all he knew, this wolf-man could be a woman… an ugly woman at that. Shuddering at that thought, Naruto took a deep breath as he asked "what did you want from me? Was there something that you wanted from me? Why did you bite me before…?"_

_"Because you weren't supposed to be his…"_

_Huh? What the hell did that mean? Was there something that more to this person than meets the eye? He didn't know… but there was going to be some answers no matter how he got them but he would get them. Inhaling deeply, Naruto narrowed his eyes and got himself ready for a fight, he would make sure that he would kick this guy… girl… whoever's ass and make this wolf answer the questions that he's been trying to answer._

_The wolf turned back to the blonde shinobi and smirked. "What's the matter? Afraid of knowing the truth? That I would kill you? Well, do not fear, I don't have a reason to kill you… yet." Okay, that was a sure sign that this guy wanted to hurt Naruto for some reason, whatever that was though he still didn't know and he had a feeling that it would be something. "You will become like me… like you should have." Said the wolf before letting out a loud laugh that soon turned into a howl._

_"Let the power flow through you! You will be more powerful than you could have ever dreamed and it shall be done!" shouted the wolf, causing Naruto to tilt his head in confusion._

_"Look buddy, whatever it is your selling, I aint buying. I'm out of here." Naruto said with a bland stare and voice. This guy was just nuts, and he was going to leave and pretend that none of this had happened in the first place. Shaking his head, the young man started to walk away, only for his body to freeze as he felt pain starting to shoot its way through his body. Gasping out, the blonde haired shinobi fell to his hands and knees as he felt the pain increasing through his body._

_"Soon, this will be your future… you cannot stop it no matter how hard you try shinobi of the leaf." Calmly said the wolf as he… yeah he was just gonna keep calling it a he… The wolf was going to keep mocking him until Naruto truly did go through what he was really supposed to go through in a certain amount of time. Naruto couldn't help but breathe deeply, he felt like his body was melting and his bones were breaking yet repairing themselves. Preparing him for something that has yet to come to him, though Naruto still didn't know what it was that his body was preparing him for…_

_"Make it stop!" shouted Naruto, trying to get the pain to stop but no matter what he just couldn't get the pain to leave him alone. Breathing heavily, Naruto turned and saw that his hand looked larger, his nails started to grow and sharpen into claws. No! This couldn't be happening; this was going to kill him at this rate! Shaking his head, the young man gasped and wheezed, his spine started to stretch, making him taller and he felt his ribs breaking and stretching as they repaired themselves._

_The wolf laughed as he stared at the slightly turned Naruto with a smirk on his face. "This is going better than I had hoped…" said the wolf as he walked over to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto couldn't stop this, he wanted the pain to stop, for this transformation to stop and get it to leave him alone before this transformation was complete. Screaming out in pain, Naruto fell over on his side, the wolf's hand slipping from his shoulder as he just stared at Naruto and raised what could have been a very, very hairy eyebrow if he had been human._

_"Make… this… stop…" gasped out Naruto, his body fighting the transformation as it tried to force itself upon him. Though because it wasn't the right time, Naruto was winning that inner battle… Breathing deeply, Naruto wrapped his arms around himself, as if to shield himself from the transformation, this hurt so much worse than when the Kyuubi would control him. It made him want to crawl in a hole and die somewhere, though he wouldn't let it end like this._

_"Oh, I'm sorry boy but I cannot do that. You see, sooner or later, the transformation will take place no matter if you want it to happen or not. You have no control of when it will happen."_

_Naruto growled darkly at the wolf, he wouldn't let him win! He still had a chance to stop this transformation… Or, at least delay it for a little while longer. "Shut up!" shouted Naruto, pushing himself back up onto his feet, the transformation freezing itself before it slowly started to fade away. His body returning to normal, or at least to how he looked when he had woken up that morning. Narrowing his blue eyes at the wolf, Naruto said "I won't let you win. I will defeat you, no matter if it is in my sleep or when I'm awake but I will beat you, believe it!" _

_"You'll soon see… once you do turn, you will join me… no matter if you want to or not!"_

Naruto's eyes snapped open, causing him to sit up gasping slightly and wiped his sweaty forehead. "What a terrible dream…" whispered Naruto, praying that the whole thing had only been that, a dream. Shaking his head, the young man pushed himself from bed and went to his closet and grabbed something to wear. He was also just thankful that he had grabbed his bag filled with clothes before he ran off to his home though he couldn't help but wonder… what would happen to him now?

Shaking his head, the young man took a deep breath as he grabbed the orange shirt and started to strip himself of his sweaty clothes. _'Must have been sweating a lot in my sleep…'_ thought Naruto before letting out a soft yet sad sigh. Once he slipped on the orange shirt and black pants, Naruto looked over and saw that the sun was still out but… wait… the sun seemed lower. Did that mean it was just starting to become night or…?

Tilting his head, Naruto made his way to the window and looked out, there were children outside, none of them looked tired so did that mean that it was morning and not dusk? None of this was making sense for him, in fact it was downright confusing and it made him a little curious and confused.

Breathing deeply, Naruto shook his head and made his way to the bathroom and combed out his hair. At least his sweat didn't bother his hair as much as it should have… made it easier. Hm… now that he thought about it, his nerves didn't feel as bad as they have been, he didn't feel like a shower would solve his problems now. Grinning for once, Naruto made his way to the front door and unhooked the chain and unlocked the door before opening. Only to blink in shock when he saw Hinata.

"Oh, hey Hinata."

"Oh Naruto, there you are! I've looked everywhere for you… I had a feeling that you would have returned home last night when it started to get late enough." Hinata said with a worried yet relieved smile.

"Why didn't you think I would have been here first?" asked Naruto with a tilt of his head.

"I thought you would have hidden in the forest, not a lot of people go there most of the time." Okay, she had a point there, and the forest was huge. Staring at her, Naruto didn't know why but her scent was stronger, it was sweeter. In fact, he felt a bit intoxicated by her scent though not enough to cloud his thoughts from himself. For now, he would just ignore his thoughts and just relax and make it up to Hinata for running off maybe that would get his thoughts off of his dream and his freak out yesterday.

"How about we go out for a while? Ya know, get some fresh air?" Suggested Naruto, hoping that their little outing would bring some peace between them. Yes, he still felt bad about growling at Hinata yesterday, but he also didn't want to worry her any more than he already has. Breathing deeply, the young man started to walk with Hinata out of his apartment, locked it up and started to wonder around town. The only thing that mattered to him was to make sure that Hinata had some fun though; he also knew that he should get himself checked out…

Sighing softly, Naruto looked around, trying to think on what he and Hinata could do today. Maybe they could get some dumplings or even get something from the bakery? That would be nice, just a nice little outing that would bring him some peace, along with Hinata's wonderful scent and voice.

Blinking at his own thoughts, Naruto blinked in shock and confusion before shaking his head. Okay, he had no idea why he thought that just now, though what he did know was that he was starting to lose his mind. He couldn't allow himself to be thinking like that, he didn't even know why he was attracted to Hinata's scent. It was something that made him a little confused; it was something that he didn't know what to do though he would just have to go along with it for now.

"Naruto!" shouted a new voice, causing Naruto to blink and look over. Walking up to him and Hinata, was his friend Sasuke, who now wore a high collared black shirt and white shirts. Just like he did before he left the village, though he kept the shoes from his other outfit. Next to him, was a pink haired woman, her smile was radiant, her green eyes shining with joy and happiness. Her clothes were a red top with a circular design, with black gloves, black boots, black shorts, short grey apron skirt, and grey elbow protectors and a red forehead protector. He saw them walking over toward himself and Hinata, he was about to wave to them until a scent wafted to his nose… it smelled terrible.

Gaging, Hinata looked up at Naruto as she asked "you okay?" Naruto turned to Hinata and tried to focus on her scent. Whatever that scent was, it was getting closer to him and it made the blonde haired teen bury his nose in Hinata's hair and just inhale her scent all day just to make up for that terrible smell that got closer.

"How are you feeling Naruto? I heard that Hinata's been looking after you." Said the pink haired girl, Sakura… a girl that Naruto had loved deeply but now, he wasn't so sure. Blinking at her, Naruto sniffed the air, making sure he didn't look stupid for it and that was when he realised where that scent was coming from… it was coming from Sakura. Her scent was putrid, it was artificial and that made him sick… Sure, Naruto wasn't one to like perfume, he was more into natural scents, always has but why hasn't he noticed that on Sakura before?

"I'm fine… I've been feeling better since returning though I'm gonna ask baa-chan if I can go back to my shinobi duties." Naruto calmly said, which was true, he wanted to get back to work… He was just so bored and wanted to do something besides walking… well, then again the only thing enjoyable about his day had been Hinata's company and that made him happy.

"You sure? You look a little green…" said Sasuke with a tilt of his head.

_'It's because Sakura is wearing perfume you teme…'_ Naruto thought, wanting to shout it out at Sasuke and Sakura but he couldn't even do that.

"Oh, Naruto wanna come get some ramen with us?" asked Sakura with a smile still in place.

Sakura wanted to him to have ramen with them? That was a first, and sure any other time Naruto would have jumped at the chance to have a meal with Sakura. Even if Sasuke was there, in a way this should have been a dream come true though this time… he didn't feel as excited about this at all. In fact, he didn't want to do anything with Sakura, it must have been that scent that was around her like a wet dog and it annoyed him to high heaven.

"No."

"Okay then- wait what? You don't want ramen with us?" Sakura said in shock.

"I don't… not with you Sakura. I'm sorry but your perfume is making me sick." He growled it out softly before wrapping his arm around Hinata, not really thinking of his actions. "I prefer to spend the day with Hinata. Maybe get some pork or something but otherwise, I don't want to be near you. Your scent is really making me ill." With that, Naruto started to walk away with Hinata, leaving a baffled Sakura and Sasuke behind, even they had been confused about Naruto's words.

"You okay Naruto?" asked Hinata, she had been rather confused that he had turned down the offer to have lunch with his crush.

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment before turning his gaze to Hinata. His eyes shining with some unknown emotion, he didn't really know why he had turned it down. Though there was something deep within him telling him that Sakura was not right for him. Her scent was not right for him and it irritated him in a way but not as much as it should have and he knew that it should… after all, he had loved her for so long. Looking around, Naruto didn't know what he was doing to be honest, but right now he was mostly following some kind of instinct, it felt like he was supposed to do this…

"I don't want Sakura anymore. Not really sure why that is myself but… I don't know, I just feel like I've fallen out of love with her and that should anger me but it doesn't." Naruto calmly self, turning himself so he could face Hinata. Giving Hinata a soft and gentle smile, he pulled her in the alley so they could be alone before he held Hinata against the wall. Not enough to hurt her but enough to show that what he was going to say, is true and he was serious.

"Naruto…"

Breathing deeply, Naruto buried his face in Hinata's neck as he whispered "I don't know why but… I just want to hold you close forever Hinata. Enjoy everything that we can do… this week, I never knew that I could be happy or know that there was someone that would care about me like you have." He let out a deep breath that he had been holding, enjoying the scent of Hinata wash over him and remove the terrible scent of Sakura's perfume from his senses.

"I don't want to be with Sakura anymore, but I want to be with someone else…" Pulling his head back, Naruto looked at the blue haired woman through his spiky blonde bangs, giving him a bit of a mysterious look to himself. He couldn't help but smile at Hinata for a moment before whispering "I want to be with you…" He took a deep breath and leaned forward, gently pressing his lips against hers…

Naruto didn't know why… but he wanted Hinata to accept him. Wanted her to be his saviour, his salvation… he wanted too much from her for he felt like she would, or could save him…

Or destroy him with her rejection.

* * *

**hope you like this chapter and that I didn't have the kiss happen too soon, now... what should happen next? for next chapter shall be the chapter of truth! now if you have any ideas don't be afraid to send in those ideas, I'll write again when I can either get a good idea, or one is given, later XD**


	9. The Full Moon

Naruto couldn't believe that he had kissed Hinata, yet… it didn't bother him at all. Hell, he rather enjoyed the kiss. The kiss was just so perfect, so inviting, so warm, soft… so _inviting_ just like Hinata was. Inhaling softly, he leaned back against the wall of his apartment as he looked out the window. Hinata had been a little surprised that he had kissed her though; it made him happy that she returned the kiss with such a love that he never knew that it would have been possible.

Letting out a soft sigh of content, Naruto looked over to the cupboard and frowned a bit. He hadn't had anything to eat yet so maybe a meal was in order. It would make him feel a little better to have something in his stomach right now.

Grinning, Naruto made his way to his kettle and poured in some water as he started to boil it. Hoping that it would be enough for him though he had a feeling that he would make a lot of ramen for himself. Not just any ramen either, pork ramen. _'Man, I really am craving meat… a lot of it to…'_ Letting out a soft sigh, the young man sat down at his table as he waited for the water to boil. Everything seemed so complicated right now…

He no longer held any love for Sakura, instead that love had transferred itself to Hinata. Blushing at the thought of the blue haired heiress, Naruto gave a soft chuckle as he laid his head on his crossed arms. It was nice to think about her, Hinata's blue hair was so soft and he just loved holding her in his arms. Blushing all the more, Naruto shook his head, trying to get himself to calm down. Everything was amazing, that was for sure though he couldn't help but wonder what would be in store for him and Hinata now…

Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto blinked as he looked over at the kettle, he saw that it was still steaming so that still gave him plenty of time to think, there was still so much that he had to do today… Though he just couldn't think of anything but Hinata, then, of course there was the weird nightmare he had recently. What did it all mean? Shaking his head, the young man knew this; it couldn't hurt him so there was nothing for him to worry about right? _'Then why do I feel so nervous…?' _he thought to himself before shaking his head once more and pushing himself up when the kettle started to let out its loud whistle.

Smiling, Naruto turned off the kettle, grabbed one of his many ramen bowls, pulled back the lid and poured the steaming hot water. After that, he resealed it and set his timer. This gave him some time to think for now, though he couldn't help but wonder… what was he to do… what could he do?

Shaking his head, the young man leaned back in his seat as he tried to figure out all that has been going on lately. Sure, he had some new senses that he believed would be perfect for missions, he has a stronger looking body and he did, in fact feel stronger. Though what he still didn't understand was the weird craving for meat, and that time he fetched a stick and growled at Hinata.

"I still can't believe I did that to her…" he whispered softly before shaking his head and yawned softly. He still didn't fully understand why he had done that, though figured that maybe he had some kind of infection… maybe he should see baa-chan to make sure that he didn't catch anything from that monster. "After I eat of course." He said with a chuckle before he pushed himself up from his seat and went to take his shoes off, he wanted to enjoy the time he has at home so he could eat his ramen in peace without any worries in the world.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked over and saw that the dial on the timer was still going, there was still so much time that he had left until his ramen was done. Though he didn't know what he could do until the timer dinged. Time just seemed to slow down for him when he had a lot on his mind, or when he's waiting for his ramen. Inhaling softly, Naruto could smell the ramen boiling through the container, which to him was amazing; he never thought that it could have been possible though it just made him smile knowing that with his sense of smell that it helped him to figure out when his ramen was done. That was awesome!

Breathing deeply, the young man sat back down after setting his shoes aside and smiled at the ramen bowl. It would be nice that he would be able to enjoy his meal. In fact, it would have tasted better if Hinata was here to share this meal with.

Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto ran a hand through his hair before the timer started to go off. Blinking, the young man turned to the timer and shut it off with a happy grin on his face. "Ramen time!" Cheered Naruto before he opened up his ramen bowl and happily started to eat. Oh it tasted so good! Though, like he's mentioned, would have tasted better if Hinata was here with him, sharing the bowl. Gazing at the window, the young man saw that it wasn't that late in the day so maybe after he ate, he'd have time to visit Tsunade… That would be nice…

At least then he can get himself a check-up and wonder why she hadn't checked up on him sooner. It was rather weird yes, though he didn't complain about it much since he had been trying to figure out why he's been feeling so strange. Breathing deeply, Naruto slurped up his ramen and let out a happy sigh of contentment. It was always nice that he could enjoy his ramen like this, when was the last time that he had been able to enjoy ramen without anything bad happening to him in some sort of way or without him panicking about something? He didn't know, it felt like it's been forever.

Suddenly, there was a knock at his door, causing the young man to sigh and set down his ramen as he got up to answer, wondering who would dare come to his home. Or even know that he was even home in the first place.

Yawning into the back of his hand, he opened the door, and saw the blonde hokage standing before him. She had a calm expression on her face, though she didn't smell like sake. Must be one of the rare times that she's sober. "What can I do for you baa-chan?" asked Naruto with a tilt of his head. He didn't really know what got her to come all the way from the tower to his home, must be important or it was because he hasn't gone in for a check-up a lot sooner.

"I've come to _finally_ do that check-up for you Naruto. I would have come sooner but have had troubles at the hospital and with… paper work." She winced at the paper work part, which, Naruto couldn't blame her for. He didn't like that either though it was fun to see her squirm a little because he didn't have to worry about that. Yet. He will go easy on her because of that little trouble for he knows that he'll have that problem as well sooner or later. At least her reason for not checking up on him before made some sense and it did make him feel a little better to have it done at home so no one would be watching…

Taking a deep breath, Naruto went back to his ramen bowl and slurped down the last of the wonderful meal before sitting down on his chair, letting Tsunade take the other one. The blonde haired woman placed her hand on Naruto's forehead to make sure that he had no fever. Then, she checked his pulse to make sure that it was strong and he doesn't need any kind of medication to help speed it up or that he was relaxed enough that it wasn't going too fast.

"Hm… do you mind if I look at your shoulder for a moment?" asked Tsunade as she stared at Naruto with concern on her face. Okay, that did have him a little worried since now that she mentioned it… he hasn't bothered to check on his shoulder all that much. Shrugging it off, the young man pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and showed her the scar that resided on his left shoulder before staring at Tsunade. It didn't look any different since she last saw it. Though, in fact it almost seemed like the scar was a little thicker… odd, wait… looking closer, Tsunade noticed that there was something within the scarring… Was that… some kind of crescent moon or something?

"Naruto, have you been experiencing weird to you lately?" asked Tsunade with a frown. Naruto just stared at her. Sure, he was a little nervous about telling her what it was though he couldn't tell her… He couldn't tell her what had been going on with him lately… No, he just couldn't tell her, besides it wasn't like he was hurting anyone right? Sure he growled at Hinata but he still didn't hurt her…

"No." lied Naruto.

Frowning Tsunade crossed her arms, staring at him with a cold glare as if she could sense that he was lying though didn't comment on it. For now, though Naruto knew that she would push him for answers if she found out that he was lying to her. Oh jeez, he hoped that she never found out, that was the last thing that he wanted to go through right now, and the thought of having to go through that made his very skin crawl at the thought of it.

Letting out a soft sigh, the blonde hokage calmly said "fine, but I'll have Hinata keep a close eye on you and, I'll have her report to me if anything weird is going on with you understand? I can't keep skipping out on paper work."

"Uh… didn't you say that you couldn't see me sooner _because_ of your paper work?" said Naruto as he put his shirt back on.

"I skipped them today."

Figures.

After that, Tsunade walked out of Naruto's apartment and headed on back to the tower. Now, Naruto had the rest of the day to himself. Tomorrow, he was going to try to do something nice for Hinata. Maybe take her out to someplace nice. Yeah, that would make things all the better for them. Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto stretched his arms as he started to clean up his apartment a little bit maybe that would make Hinata a little happier to see that he wasn't as much of a pig as most people would think. Though… that was only his guess since he's never been very good when it comes to girls. Why did this have to be so hard?

Shaking his head, the young man stretched his arms and looked out the window… There was still plenty of time for him to do some last minute shopping… maybe he could prepare a nice lunch for himself and Hinata tomorrow? Yeah, that would be nice. Grinning, he grabbed his wallet and rushed out the door, wanting to make sure that he had everything he would need to give Hinata a nice romantic dinner, tomorrow would be the best day ever to happen to the two of them! Nothing would ruin this for him! Nothing would and he was going to make sure that nothing got in his way.

"I just hope that Hinata doesn't mind my cooking." Muttered Naruto as he left.

* * *

Stretching his arms above his head, Naruto was sure that he had gotten everything that he would need for tomorrow. Grinning from ear to eat, the young blonde haired shinobi looked up at the sky and sighed softly. It took a lot longer for him to gather everything and of course some cook books. He wanted to make sure that he had everything that he would need to bake a nice lunch, and of course a special treat just for Hinata.

Frowning a bit, Naruto couldn't help but gaze upon the sky. It had gotten dark while he had gone store to store, to store. It had been rather difficult to get what he could gather though he figured that it would be worth it in the end result.

Tilting his head, Naruto saw the clouds starting to drift away from the moon. Shrugging, Naruto started to walk on ahead; he thought that it would be best for him to take a short cut through the ally that was near his apartment. He knew that it was going to be annoying for him though it would at least get him home sooner so he can just go on to bed. That was the only thing that he wanted right now, and just fall asleep with dreams of him spending time with Hinata.

Suddenly, he was overcome with some sort of burn that was started to course through his body. The burn started to grow hotter and hotter through his body. Naruto winced and leaned into the wall of one of the tall buildings in Konoha. "Am… Am I dreaming?" gasped out Naruto, for he hasn't felt this pain any other time, than in his dreams. Screaming out, he fell to his knees as he tried to get the pain to stop. Though it seemed that his body wasn't going to listen, wasn't going to stop. Soon, Naruto felt his bones breaking, repairing, stretching. He felt like his skin was also stretching to help support his new bone mass. Grabbing his face, Naruto felt it stretching, a muzzle starting to form on his face. "No! Stop!" cried Naruto.

His shirt soon started to rip and tear from his growing muscular body; he tried to get this to stop though he knew that it was futile. Soon, he saw his hands growing as well, his finger nails growing and sharpening into claws. No, this can't be happening… this had to be a dream damn it!

Looking down at himself, Naruto hissed in pain as he felt his teeth sharpening, much like his nails though his canines grew longer than the rest of his teeth. Breathing deeply, Naruto felt his ears soon starting to shift, moving themselves from the sides of his head to the top. Still stretching and forming as they turned into long ears, covered in grey fur that soon started to grow all along his body.

What was happening to him!?

Soon, his mind had started to fade, it slowly started to become more and more like a monster. The young man hunched forward, torso stretching leaving his waist to be narrow, yet his legs looked muscular enough not to stand out, but also to help support his weight. Naruto didn't know why this was happening, or if this was all in his head. Maybe he had passed out somewhere and he was just sleeping. There was no way that this could be possible, that this was real. That this was true, that this would all stop and he would be fine… at least, that was what he was hoping for.

Digging his fingers into his skull, Naruto hoped that this pain would redirect the pain that he was feeling into the blood that had started to stick in his blonde hair. Though that did little to nothing. Soon, the young man had noticed that his blonde hair had started to grow out a little, now starting to reach his shoulders. Falling on his side, Naruto felt his shoes rip apart, no longer able to remain on his newly grown feet that now had sharp claws for toe nails, much like his finger nails.

"Stop this now!" shouted Naruto, though, soon his vocal cords started to vanish. The animal that resided within him soon started to come out, not able to stop himself, Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to think on the last thing that he wanted to think about. If he was going to lose his mind to this, to whatever was causing his body to turn into… into this _monster_ it should be something that had started to mean so much to himself.

_'Hinata… help me… please… make this stop!'_ Naruto thought, his eyes opened, his blue eyes were the only things that remained the same, but the whites of his eyes on the other hand, turned a bright gold that made his blue irises seemed dark compared to the bright gold that shined in his eyes. The young man breathed deeply, letting out a snort as his mind only thought of one thing… he wanted to kill; he wanted to rip people apart.

Growling darkly, Naruto growled and left the alley, leaving only his shredded shirt and bits of his shredded pants that only seemed to have ripped apart past his knees. Naruto was now… nothing but a wild animal, he only cared about killing… he only wanted to satisfy the beast that dwelled within himself. The human that had once been within Naruto, had been locked away, not strong enough for him to break free and have control over his body though it seemed… that he could do nothing but sleep within his own body while the beast within him had finally taken control over him…

Naruto had become a werewolf… and he was out on the prowl.

For what that may be, no one knew…

* * *

Hinata smiled, today had been amazing. She never knew that Naruto would have kissed her and… to be honest it was better than she had ever dreamed of it being! It just seemed so weird though she wasn't going to complain about it. Letting out a soft sigh of content, she was going to see Naruto after her time at the karaoke bar with her friends. Though, they spent most of the time singing and just drinking some soft drinks instead of booze since they were still under age.

Turning her gaze, Hinata saw Sakura and Sasuke dancing to a slow song that was being performed by a local to the bar. In a way, Hinata was happy for Sakura and Sasuke. Though, she felt for Sasuke since he had his chakra sealed away until further notice. There was no way that he would be able to perform his duties as a shinobi, and of course, for added affect, they added another part to the seal so he couldn't leave Konoha. It was like he was under house arrest.

She did feel bad for him, though knew that it was to ensure the safety of Konoha and those around them all. Sighing softly, the young woman sipped at her drink and gazed out the window, wondering what Naruto was doing at the moment. There was so many things that went through her mind, though knew that he was still a little tired since, he had been looking a little green when they saw Sakura and Sasuke…

Whatever caused that though; she still didn't know but didn't let it bother her. For now anyway, maybe it was best that she focused on just having some fun tonight and head over to Naruto's to make sure that he was well before heading home herself. Sighing softly, the blue haired woman lied her head on the table as she tried to think on what she could do now… all of her friends were having fun with their boyfriend or girlfriend. It almost made it difficult for her to enjoy herself since Naruto wasn't here with her.

Blushing gently, she couldn't help but think about him though… his kiss, it still lingered on her lips and it made her blush darken all the more. Shaking her head, the blue haired woman moved her pale lavender pools on everyone that was having so much fun. It almost didn't seem fair that she was by herself… Maybe she should go and see if Naruto wanted to come on out and have some fun with her here… Sure, he wasn't going to drink (which she was thankful for) but it would at least be fun for them to dance and eat some of the food that was here.

Sighing softly, Hinata left some cash on the table and was about to go up and tell Sakura that she was going to head out, just so she could leave and head on home. She felt something grab her wrist, causing her to look up in confusion. She saw a man with long dark hair; it kept his eyes hidden though he gave her a bad vibe. "Hey pretty lady…" said the man with a smirk before he tightened his hold on Hinata's wrist. "I was wondering if I could get ya a drink. On me…"

"No thanks, I don't drink. I'm under aged." Hinata said with a small glare.

"Even better." Said the man with a smirk before he dragged Hinata, though making sure that he was careful by grabbing her other wrist. He had learned all he could about Hyuuga's and their family's style of fighting. Smirking, he dragged Hinata out to the alley at the back of the bar, a few people stood outside, which made Hinata stare with wide eyes. "Look, I found the perfect woman to have some fun with, and she's under aged."

The two men licked their lips before they each took a hold of Hinata's wrists in their hands, watching as their boss stared at her with a lustful gaze. The way he stared at her, it scared Hinata to no end, she tried to break free, but she couldn't use her gentle fist at all. In fact, her fear blocked her chakra from being used or to come out of the chakra points in her body.

Looking ahead, Hinata struggled once again, the man ahead of her smirked as he said "I love it when they try to fight… it is such a turn on." He smirked a little more before taking a few steps toward her, the closer he got to her… the faster her heart thudded in her chest, it almost seemed like it would simply burst from her rib cage from her fear… Eyes filling with tears, Hinata let out a horrified scream as she screamed for help, for anyone to come and save her from this fate, from being rapped.

One of the men grabbed her by her hair, telling her to shut the hell up if she didn't want to die after they had their fun with her. Though, in fact that only raised her fear all the more, it made her scream harder, even after her lungs were deprived of air, she wanted to get out of here, hoping, praying, begging for someone to come and save her. Where was Naruto when she needed him now of all times?!

"Naruto!" shouted Hinata.

Suddenly, a growl cut through the air like a knife. Hinata's eyes snapped up as she saw a large beast heading toward them. It walked on feet, similar to a normal human though it slightly resembled that of a dog's hind legs. He had a large and wide muscular chest and a very well muscular abdomen. Hell, even his arms were very muscular… though when Hinata got a better look, she saw that it wasn't a human. The face was stretched out with a muzzle, almost like that of a wolf or a dog. Long pointed ears atop of its head, slightly long blonde hair, blue eyes with the whites being a bright gold.

Dark grey fur covered the wolf's body, tattered pants clung to the beast's legs, though she didn't think that she would have any trouble… at least she hoped.

"Wh-What the hell is that thing?!" shouted one of the men.

"I don't know but I aint sticking around to find out!" shouted the other, both men that held onto Hinata ran back inside. Leaving the one that had dragged Hinata out of the building to glare at the monster. He wasn't going to let this beast get away, pulling out a switch blade, he rushed forward and stabbed the beast in the shoulder, only for it to grab the man and throw him into a wall. Racking its claws across his chest. Its growl was dark, but it also sounded like some kind of warning. She didn't know why that was but at the moment she wasn't going to complain… but she had to stop the beast from killing this guy, even if he was bad no one deserved this.

"Stop it!" shouted Hinata as she rushed forward and thrust her palm toward the wolf. The wolf though, saw this coming and dodged it right away; it was as if it had seen her attack before… weird. "Leave! Now!" shouted Hinata, watching as the monster growled at her and raised its clawed hand as if to strike her, only to blink, ears twitching as new voices started to ring out…

"Hinata, where are you?" shouted Sakura's voice.

Hinata watched as the wolf let out a loud howl and ran off into the night. Okay, that was rather odd and weird… but what confused her the most… was the eyes… why did they seem so… familiar to her?


	10. Pain

Naruto groaned softly, he never knew that his body could feel so much pain before though… wait, he felt pain sort of like this in his dreams but… did that mean that he was dreaming? He didn't know though all he did know was that he was in a great amount of pain to the point that he didn't want to move. Knowing that if he moved, his body would fight against him and demand that he rest… _'What's wrong with me…? Why can't I remember last night…?' _thought Naruto, he tried to remember…

Breathing deeply, the young man opened his eyes and blinked slowly. His vision was blurred and it hurt to look. Wincing, Naruto looked around and found himself in an alley. What's going on? Why was he in the alley way? Wait… "I… I went out grocery shopping… I remember but…" Carefully, he rubbed his forehead as he tried to remember what had happened after that. Frowning, he knew that he had tried to take a short cut so he could go home sooner and head to sleep but after that… he didn't remember… No, he remembered pain but that was it. "Was I… attacked?"

Looking around once again, Naruto saw some bags on the ground, all of which were fill with the food that he bought. Odd… why were his items still here and why hasn't anyone tried to move him? Shaking his head, the young man breathed deeply as he tried to get up, only to scream out in pain and fall back down. His muscles denied him movement, he couldn't move.

"Why can't I move?!" growled out Naruto as he tried to get himself up… tried to get himself to move and get out of this place though it seemed that no matter what he just couldn't get going. Just couldn't get himself up on his feet to get moving. Was this another way for fate or kami to torment him with? For him to never be able to move again? Lying down on his stomach, Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to remember what had happened to him… He could faintly recall what he was doing before entering this alley…

It was dark, he had gotten items for him to use for a nice dinner or lunch for himself and Hinata… He wanted to make sure that it was romantic for her, something for her to always remember and yet after entering this alley, he couldn't remember but a weird pain that he's only felt before in his dreams. But even then, he couldn't remember what it was…

Breathing deeply, Naruto thought that it was best… that he went back to sleep. His body was still in so much pain that he didn't think anyone would have noticed that he was gone in the first place. Hell, maybe it was better this way… Snapping his eyes open, Naruto tried again to push himself up, to get to Hinata or anyone. Anyone that can help him though he didn't know if he had the strength to get up and out of this place. "Got… to… get… up!" growled Naruto as he pressed his palms on the ground and tug the walls of his feet into the ground- "Wait… why are my toes… touching the ground?" He whispered before turning his head and gazed at his feet. "What happened to my shoes?

Frowning a little, Naruto shook his head, trying to forget about that. Right now, he had to focus getting onto his feet and get out of this place. There was no idea how long he had been out for, nor any idea of what time it was. Breathing deeply, letting out a sharp gasp of pain, Naruto tried to get up, he tried to ignore all of the pain that he was going through, and he had to get out of here while he had the will to do so.

Looking up through his tired blue eyes, Naruto noticed the sunlight that was trying to shine into the alley. Must be morning for the sun to look that bright… Or maybe, it was the afternoon… he couldn't really be sure. Shaking his head, the young man took a deep breath as he tried to get himself to calm down though, it seemed once again, his body did not like the idea of moving as of yet. Soon, a muscle spasm hit him hard, causing the blonde haired shinobi to cry out in pain before he fell back down, breathing deeply as he tried to get the pain to stop coursing through his every cell.

Tightly shutting his eyes, Naruto let out a choked out gasp as he tried to get his body to listen to him. Why couldn't this be easier for him in the first place? Why did this have to happen to him? First he was attacked by that beast, then he goes through those weird changes and now he can't even remember what happened last night! It all just seemed to be one big blur in his memory that he can't recall.

Shaking his head, the young man lied down on the ground, trying to think… trying to recall everything that happened but that, of course only caused him more pain just trying to remember. It felt like his head was going to split in two just at the thought of it.

"Make the pain stop…" muttered Naruto as he closed his eyes.

"Hey someone there?" called a voice, one that Naruto knew but couldn't recall. Well, not at the moment anyway. "Oh god! Naruto, what happened?!" shouted the voice, causing Naruto to wince. It seemed that his hearing was still well in tuned with his surroundings but not as powerful as it once was. Odd…

Suddenly, Naruto felt someone lifting him up onto his feet, causing him to cry out in pain. His body shaking and spasming as it tried to stop the pain from coursing any further. "Shit man, you're in terrible shape… what happened?" The young man lifted his head and turned to stare at the person who had found him and had been surprised to see that it was Kiba. Blinking slowly, Naruto tried to talk but then his body spasmed once again, causing him to scream, his legs buckling under his own weight. "Damn it, I'll need help to carry you… you're heavy…" Kiba turned his head and let out a soft whisper and coming toward them was, of course Akamaru. "I need you to carry Naruto for me."

Naruto didn't know what was going on around him; all he knew was that someone found him… Kiba strangely enough of all people to be the one that found him… Though at the moment he didn't care how he had been found so long as he got out of there. "Hey, Naruto are these bags yours to?"

"Y… Yeah…" he whispered softly.

"Okay, now answer me this… what happened to your pants and where is your shirt?"

"Huh?"

Okay, that had been new… Blinking, Naruto was a little confused when he felt fur touching his chest as he was placed to lay down on Akamaru's back. Looking down at himself as best as he could, he noticed that his shirt was indeed gone. Why hadn't he felt that while on the ground? Then of course he also felt fur touching his knees. What's going on? He wore long pants and a freaking shirt before he left, he knew that much! "I don't know…" whispered Naruto before he closed his eyes. His body was so tired, just wanting to sleep the rest of the pain away.

Shaking his head, Naruto whispered, has still yet to fall fully asleep "how did you find me?" He didn't know how anyone could have found him; in fact he just wasn't sure how it had been possible in the first place.

"I told him." Blinking softly, Naruto opened his eyes as he heard the new voice. He knew that it hadn't been Kiba hat had just spoken to him. No, someone else was here with him though he didn't know who it could have been. Damn it, what was with today?!

"Who told who?" whispered Naruto before looking up at Kiba and saw the brown haired teen just staring at him in confusion. No wait, Kiba was looking at the blonde haired shinobi like he was crazy. "What?" Asked Naruto, trying to stay awake a little while longer. He just wanted to know what was going on right now, though he didn't know what it was that was making the dog shinobi stare at him like he had lost his very mind.

"I never said anything Naruto. I didn't even answer your question yet. Anyway, Akamaru showed me where you were. He heard you and he pointed where you were so I came in here." Kiba said, his face marked with a frown and concern for his friend. Wait… it was Akamaru that knew he was here? Then… did that mean that he could… understand Akamaru now?! Oh shit!

"Don't worry Naruto; we'll get you to the hospital to get you checked out. Maybe Tsunade can shine some light on why you're in so much pain and… maybe you can explain to us why you were out here and for how long." Kiba said with a grin on his face. He knew that he was trying to cheer him up a little that he would get to see a doctor or in his case, Tsunade but it was what he would end up having to explain after that he was not looking forward to. How was he to explain that he didn't really remember anything after getting groceries?

Jeez, this was going to be one hell of a day though he knew that he couldn't just tell them that he didn't know what had happened to him but sadly, that was the only thing he had on him. Closing his eyes, he asked "what time is it anyway…?"

"It's the afternoon… Hinata didn't see you at your apartment so she thought you just took off somewhere. Never thought I'd find you in an alley in so much pain though…" Kiba explained, his voice still calm as he walked with Akamaru toward the hospital with Naruto resting on the white dog's back. So, Hinata had noticed that he was gone… but, he had a feeling that there was more to this than what meets the eye… He wasn't sure why, but he felt like Hinata wouldn't have wanted to see him for some reason, that she would run away in fear if she knew the truth… whatever that truth was.

"I wish you had been with her last night though Naruto. She was almost raped last night when she went out with everyone."

"Huh?" Naruto opened his eyes and gazed up at Kiba. Ignoring all the looks he was getting from riding Akamaru's back. As he gazed at his friend, Naruto wondered what had happened to Hinata. Breathing deeply, he pushed himself to sit up on the dogs back as he asked "what happened? Is she okay?!"

"Yeah she's fine. Said she was saved by some kind of beast or something. It raised its claws to her but took off when Sakura yelled for her. Never saw it again after last night though. She went to see you after that last night but you weren't home yet so she came back this morning and saw that you were gone again but thought nothing of it…" Kiba answered.

Wait, she's known he was gone last night? "Why didn't she come looking for me?" asked Naruto.

"She had some meetings to tend to and thought you'd be back home by the time she was done. If not, she was going to make a search."

"And you know this because?"

"I was with her this morning to see you."

"Oh."

Well, that was starting to make some sense to him though; Naruto just had this nagging feeling in the back of his head that he was missing something. That he should know more about the attack that had happened to Hinata… like he had witnessed it firsthand… like he had been _there_ and just chose to forget. He just didn't know why that was… Yawning softly, Naruto lied back down on Akamaru and went to sleep… maybe he would remember soon enough…

* * *

"Hm… it doesn't seem he has any injuries or blunt force trauma to the head. It just seems like your body was over worked it seems. That's why you're in so much pain Naruto." Said Tsuande as she went over his chart. It had been like that since he got here… and after he woke up. They have been doing test after test after test, and it was starting to get annoying. Though it was nice to know that he didn't have any problems right now… Sighing softly, Naruto reached up carefully and rubbed his shoulder, it hurt worse than the rest of him though there was nothing that he could do about that sadly.

"I want you to relax a little more for a few days. So take these." Tsunade said, handing Naruto what looked like a pill bottle. Must be pain killers for his sore muscles. God, he hated taking these things, it always made him seem like some kind of idiot… more so than usual. "You'll be staying overnight Naruto… I also had Kiba take those bags of yours to your home."

"Oh yeah… I forgot about them after I passed out on Akamaru's back." He said with a frown. Damn it, everything just seemed out of place to him and he didn't know why that was damn it! Shaking his head, Naruto leaned back on the bed, just wanting to relax a little more. Maybe have a bath or something so he could soak and hopefully, the hot water would ease his sore muscles of all the pain that it was going through right now.

"Ah yes, Naruto… did you see anything last night at all? Maybe that beast that attacked you was the same one that attacked Hinata."

"It wasn't…" whispered Naruto, not really thinking of his words.

"What makes you say that?"

"Say what?"

"You just said the beast that attacked Hinata, wasn't the same one that attacked you." Tsunade calmly said, her one eyebrow raised as she gazed at Naruto. Thinking that he was hiding something from her. To be honest, he didn't know why he had said that, or had even been aware of it for that matter. Just what was wrong with him? Was he really there at the attack and just chose to forget and most of all, why didn't he help Hinata if he had been there!?

Inhaling deeply, Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to think on what had happened last night. Though it just seemed that no matter what he did, it just wouldn't come to him. "I don't really remember baa-chan. It all just seems like a blur to me. Last thing I remember was… going through the alley to get home after shopping and then pain… after that, it's a total blank to me." Naruto turned away from the hokage as he let out a soft sigh. It all just didn't make any kind of sense to him, though he knew that he would have to be careful from now on, whatever caused his pain, and he knew that he would have to be careful with it from now on so it didn't happen again.

Well, that was also assuming that he knew what had caused it though it didn't come to him at the moment.

"Hm… you must have gone through some kind of trauma after all last night. Memories are normally suppressed when the mind goes through something terrible. Whatever happened to you must have caused that memory loss." Made sense… though now that only made him even more curious as to why he didn't remember though, he hoped that he would remember soon because it was driving him insane! Inhaling softly, Naruto turned to the blonde haired woman as he asked her if there was a spring or something here in the hospital for him to soak in… He could really use a bath, not just for his tired muscles for his nerves.

Tsunade nodded and helped Naruto to the bathing area. Or at least brought him to the door since it seemed that his body had relaxed enough for him to handle walking… not very far mind you though far enough. Once Naruto was alone, he knew that he could relax a little as he tried to remember what had happened. Frowning a little, the young man stripped himself out of the hospital gown that he had been forced to wear and sank in the hot water of the hot spring that they had added in the hospital for those who wouldn't get their bodies to relax from pain killers.

"This is what I needed…" whispered Naruto as he leaned back in the water before letting out a soft sigh. Sinking in the water where only his head remained untouched by the hot water, the young man closed his eyes as he tried to think on what had happened.

As he relaxed, Naruto tried to force the memory out of his brain. Wanting to know what had happened to him, what had caused him to forget and most of all, why he's been feeling so guilty all day. Okay, maybe not all day but since he had heard about Hinata's attack. Why hadn't he done something to protect her if he was there? Why didn't he do anything at all?!

Focusing with all his might, Naruto could see faint images in his mind. He could see Hinata staring with wide fear filled eyes. What was she staring at that would have her so scared anyway? Shaking his head, he lifted his hand and pressed his fingers slightly into his temple as he tried to bring the memory out a little more. Biting his lower lip, the young man tried to bring it more to the surface, using all of his will power to do so.

"What are you scared of Hinata…" whispered Naruto.

Her hand was held out toward him in the next piece of memory… did she attack him? Why? What did he do to have her attack him? _"Leave! Now!"_ said Hinata in his memory, her eyes looking serious. Though what appeared in his memory next was what shocked him. For in his memory, he had growled at Hinata, and he could faintly see… grey? No, that was a clawed hand… had… had that been his? Eyes snapping open, Naruto's skin went pale as he whispered these words…

"I almost attacked Hinata… I… I turned into a monster… oh god."


	11. Trying to Find a Cure

It had been a few weeks since Naruto had been released from the hospital. He didn't want to believe that he had attacked Hinata, that he had turned into a monster that could have easily killed her but damn it… "I did…" he whispered, burying his face in his hands as he sat at his dining table. Why was this happening to him in the first place? Why was it that he had turned into that monster? Did it have something to do with the bite that he received from that monster a while ago or was it something else? A bloodline that he has that has yet to be realised?

"Ah who the hell am I kidding…" he muttered to himself, not bothering to see a good side to all of this. After all, to him there was no good side to all of this… For a while now, ever since Hinata had reported the wolf sighting to Tsuande, the shinobi have been hunting down for the best, but he couldn't very well just come on out and say that it was him. That he had somehow been turned into that monster, it could very well get him killed and he didn't plan on having that happen to him, not yet anyway.

Why couldn't things go easier for him?

Slamming his head on the table, Naruto whined softly. Why was this happening to him?! Life was unfair enough as it was and now this had to happen to him!? Letting out a soft sigh, the young man looked toward the door and sighed softly. _'I miss Hinata so much… but I can't face her…'_ he thought that it would be terrible… He didn't remember most of what had happened, but what he did know was that he had raised his hand toward Hinata, like he had been about to strike her.

Why… why? Why?! _Why did this have to happen?! _Growling, Naruto couldn't stand this anymore… He had to find a way to control this better, maybe if he could get back to training-no… no he couldn't. Sure, over the weeks, he has been trying to control his curse, thinking that maybe if he could control it, he could stop the transformation from happening again…

Turning back to his hand, he flexed his fingers and watched as his nails turned into claws and sighed softly before changing them back into nails. He could easily handle a partial transformation, mostly his hands or his ears but otherwise, he hasn't been able to transform into that beast maybe that was a good thing? Maybe if he couldn't do a full transformation, he wouldn't turn again like he had that one time? Hm… what had been different from his first transformation from now?

Setting his chin on the table, Naruto blinked slowly as he tried to think on what was the cause of it… what had caused his first transformation anyway? Yawning into the back of his hand, the young man had thought maybe he would have been able to figure it out but so far, he hadn't been able to think clearly on it. Sitting up, Naruto stretched his arms over his head, maybe something to eat would help him think a little better… but sadly, he was starting to run low on food since he had locked himself away in his home most of the time, and, having avoided anyone as much as he could.

Sooner or later, he would have to face people again and maybe it was about time that he did… Walking over to his nightstand, the young man pulled out his wallet and stuffed it into his pocket before grabbing his keys and walking out of his apartment. Maybe it was best that he just got it over and done with… It would be better than sitting around and doing nothing…

Closing his eyes for a moment, Naruto knew that there was nothing to be thankful about this curse of his, but the only thing that he was happy about… was that he didn't get fleas.

_'Sadly that's the only good thing…'_ he mumbled to himself before shaking his head. He had to be careful while wondering through the village, he had to make sure that nothing went wrong for him, or worse, that one of his friend's would see him. That was something he could live without at the moment, thinking that if he ran into them, that they would ask questions about why they haven't seen him very much the last couple weeks.

There had to be an easier way for him to deal with this right? There just had to be some way to solve this whole problem of his but so far, nothing… Maybe if he went to the library to find some information on wolves, he could figure something out but that was going to be a long shot. Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto knew though that the library would have to wait, at least until he got something eat, he was starving, and of course he was craving meat.

Lots and lots of meat.

Smirking, Naruto licked his lips as he thought about it… pork… Shaking his head, the young man slapped himself as he tried to get himself under control. Damn meat cravings… being a wolf sucked. He couldn't even have chocolate anymore! Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach and it annoyed him to no end… there had to be a better way to control this craving of his without looking like he was some carnivore… _'Wait… I did end up becoming one…'_ thought Naruto with a sigh before making his way to the restaurant… maybe if he ate a little bit it would satisfy him for the time being… even if it was only a little bit it might make him feel a little better.

Hell, it would even be nice if he didn't run into anyone yet, there was no way, absolutely no way that he would run into anyone there.

* * *

Breathing deeply, Naruto managed to finally lose them. After he had finished his third helping of fried pork, Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru came into the restaurant and that was when he knew that he had to pay, and get the hell out of there. There was no way that he would let them talk to him, not when he was so panicked. Shaking his head, the young man looked around before he noticed his hands and saw that they almost looked like giant pawed hands. Narrowing his eyes, he knew that he had to get a better control over himself; it was bad enough that he lost control so easily because of them seeing him after so long but damn it all!

Closing his eyes, the young man tried to get himself to calm down, to relax. That was the only way for him to revert back… at least, from how he had managed to turn back all those other times when his nerves became so frazzled like they were now.

He tried to think of things that made him happy, that made him so overjoyed that it made his heart soar at the thought of it. Breathing a little more calmly, Naruto imagined him, with Hinata… he wasn't sure why, but he always seemed happy and more calm when he thought about her. Sure, he loved her… he really did… but why did thinking about her stop his small transformation? It just didn't make sense to him but at the moment he wasn't going to question it any further than he needs to…

Looking down at his hands, the young man saw that he had returned to normal that was something to be happy about anyway. Looking around, Naruto hadn't thought he'd find himself in this alley again. Hell, this was the alley that he had first transformed in, and where Kiba found him the next day in pain. It was hard to believe that this place would mean something… Not anything good mind you… Shaking his head, Naruto walked out of the alley and made his way to the library. Right now, he had to do some research about this 'curse' and find a way to control it or even reverse it before it was too late.

Unless… it was already too late to reverse it since he fully transformed weeks ago…

Rubbing his temple, Naruto knew that this was going to be difficult, and that it was only going to get harder from here on out. With the Anbu looking around for the 'beast' he would have to be careful with where he transforms, it may only be safe to transform in his home but even then, it would be difficult… he may have to do it in the forest if he was about to transform again. That may be the only safe place for him now…

Looking around, Naruto was careful with who would see him. He was careful, very careful… right now, he didn't trust himself to be around anyone, knowing that if he got nervous or scared, he would start to transform right in front of them and then, they would know the truth and attack him, or worse, kill him before he could find out if there was a cure for him. Letting out a soft yet sad sigh, the young man made his way to the library and started to look for a book that he could find on humans turning into wolves.

There had to be something here… anything would do.

Frowning, Naruto didn't know if he could even find anything on this curse, after all… there hadn't been anyone else known to have this kind of power right? Sighing, he wondered to the myth department of the store, thinking that maybe if it wouldn't be in facts, that it would be there, that had to be good right? If it was in myths, maybe there would be something that he could do to cure him of this damn curse…

"Hm… blood drinkers… vampires? Okay, now THAT is just a myth." Muttered Naruto before shaking his head and making his way down the aisle. Thinking that he would find what he really wanted to find though so far it didn't seem to be the case. Yawning into the back of his hand, the blonde haired teen didn't think that he would find anything; it just didn't seem that there were any books that would tell him anything about what he was becoming… In fact, it almost seemed like there would be any way for him to find out anyway… _'Maybe there isn't even any myths on this either…'_ thought Naruto with a sad sigh before he started to turn around and walk away.

Only for a _thump_ to be heard from behind.

Frowning, the young man turned around and saw that there was a book on the ground. Tilting his head, Naruto walked over to the book and lifted it into his hand and frowned when he saw that the cover was pure white. But on it was 'werewolf'. Werewolf? Was that what he had truly become? Looking around, Naruto didn't see anyone around him, and not to mention he didn't see this book on the shelf so… where did it come from? Shrugging to himself, Naruto made his way to the counter and grabbed his library card, who would have thought that he would have any use for this thing?

"Hm… odd, there is no bar code for the book… you sure it's from the library?"

"I found it on the flood by the myth department."

"Odd… well, it doesn't belong to the library and no one has asked about a missing book. In fact, this looks brand new… How about this, you can borrow the book, but return it once you're done just in case someone does ask for it alright?"

"Alright." Naruto said with a smile before putting his card back in his wallet and made his way home… though he wasn't sure if that would happen. There wasn't anyone around him when the book had dropped, at least he didn't smell anyone near him. Looking up at the sky, he figured that he had enough time to do some quick shopping before heading on home… that would give him something to do at least then, as soon as he got home he would get to reading this book just so he could hurry up and figure out what the cause of this curse was and find a way to cure himself.

* * *

Yawning, Naruto had finished putting everything away; now all he had to do was read this book and pray that it finally gave him some answers. Blinking slowly, he sat down on his bed and started to flip through the pages. It was rather weird… without even having to read the book; he had noticed one thing about it… it looked more like a journal than a book. Was it one of those books that people sometimes wrote based off of their lives and made it seem like it was their personal journal or something?

Turning back to the first page, it showed something that he hadn't expected…

_"Today, I found the woman of my dreams; I wanted to prove that I was the only man for her… I did everything I could to show her that I would be everything that she deserved. Yet, it seemed that no matter what I just couldn't get her to notice me, instead she would always stare at that blonde haired bastard. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?! Didn't he see that she was mine and mine alone?! Just what the hell did she see in him anyway?! Maybe it was because he was a powerful shinobi, a genius perhaps… if I became a powerful shinobi; she'll notice me at last and fall in love with me! I may just win her heart yet, nothing will stop me… but to do that… I may need some help…_

Hm… that was weird, who was this guy and why did he go to such lengths for a girl that didn't love him… "Oh wait… I was like that with Sakura… but at least I know she didn't go for a guy with power." Mumbled Naruto before shaking his head and flipped the page, maybe there was something else that she could use on that was written in this… there had to be something that would give him an idea of what he was to expect now or even why this had anything to do with his situation.

Shaking his head, Naruto leaned back in his seat as he tried to find more information, maybe he could learn about this guy's name or something he didn't know…

_It had been a few days since I agreed to the testing for more strength. I was told that this would give me the strength and abilities of a wolf. I didn't care what it did to me, all I wanted was power, and if that would get me to win my dream girl, then so be it. The only thing I wanted to keep was to maintain a human form when I so choose, and of course the heart that beats and yearns for her love in return._

_Thinking back on it, I remember that it was so very painful. That I felt like I would have blacked out, I had to keep telling myself that it would be worth it… that it would be worth it so long as I could hold onto her, hold her in my arms and kiss her lips with my own. So long as I could do that, I would be more than happy to keep going through with this testing. After it had been declared a success, I was told to wait out for the effects to kick in, and of course wait until it would be complete… on the night of the full moon._

Full moon? What did the full moon have to do with any of this? Was there something that the moon could provide that would have made this so called transformation a completion or was there something more to this than what was lead on? Hm… This had him very confused yet also at the same time very curious. Though he just couldn't give up yet, he had to know what would happen, and he would make sure that it would give him the answers… all of them.

"Just what was this guy's problem? Why would he do so much just to win a girl over?! Didn't he see that she wouldn't return his feelings?!" growled Naruto with a shake of his head. Jeez, this guy was crazy, but damn it he just couldn't believe what this guy was going on and on about, was he just that crazy or what?

_Over the time, I had noticed that nothing was happening… but, I had noticed, that the week before the full moon, I had begun to notice that my sense of smell had increased… it made me so happy to know that I could smell things so much better… even, smell her. Her scent was just so sweet that it made me want to be near her all the time… Her scent was just so perfect, it was so sweet that I pretty much had a tooth ache but it didn't stop there, no far from it._

_After that, my hearing had gotten better… I was starting to become more powerful and that was making me smile. Soon, soon she shall be mine and nothing would stop me no matter the cost. I had begun to tell my doctor about this, about the new senses that I had gained along with the new found strength that I've been gaining before the full moon. He told me that because the full moon was getting closer, the abilities I should gain were starting to surface, once the rays of a full moon hit me, would be when the transformation would be complete, and I shall be able to control the transformations at will._

_That made me smile, the only real smile that I've felt since I started this crazy testing but… so long as I could hold her and have her love me as much as I loved her then it would be worth it. All worth it just for her to love me…_

_The things I could go without though had been the craving for meat, nigh vision and the behaviours like a dog but it was again, all for a cause. I had once again, asked my doctor about the things I've been going through, he had told me that craving for meat was a normal thing for I was becoming a wolf man, and that the protein from the meat was actually making me stronger, for I had started to notice that when I became a little more broader than before. I had to go shopping for new clothes because the ones I had no longer fit me, I wanted to laugh because finally, I was gaining everything I have always wanted! Power… and soon by the full moon… she will be mine._

"Man this guy is crazy… he doesn't love her, he's obsessed! Damn, and I thought that I was obsessed with Sakura but this guy went to a new level!" shouted Naruto, he just couldn't believe it, this guy went to such lengths… if this girl only loved guys for power then she was shallow but for some reason, he felt like this story didn't have a happy ending… he wasn't sure why that was, but it seemed like there wouldn't ever be a happy ending for those who were like him… he just didn't know what it was, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Wonder what happened next…" whispered Naruto as he turned the page, hoping to find something, anything that would give him an idea of what happened after this guy had finished his transformation.

_I never knew that the transformation would hurt this badly. The thought of my beloved though, kept the pain away and it became worth it… When the pain would slip through my defenses, I just had to keep reminding myself that it was all worth it in the end… That was the only thing that mattered to me that this would all be worth it in the end. Tonight, I would claim my woman, my mate and nothing would stop me. Her scent was still so sweet, but for some reason, it had contained some kind of bitterness in it…_

_Though, I never thought anything of it that was the only thing that I wanted was her._

_After my transformation… I smelled her… I could smell her out there with that blonde man. I knew that this would be the moment of truth, that once she saw how powerful I was, she would come to me, she would love me and only me! I wanted to laugh, I wanted to enjoy my future with her in my life, and nothing would stop that, nothing would prevent it! No matter what, I would have her…_

So he did complete his transformation… There had to be more to this than what he saw… there just had to be but what could it have been anyway?! Shaking his head, the young man sighed softly and started to flip through the pages again… It was the last entry in this place… it was dated back in September, sixteen years ago… odd…

_I couldn't believe it… she didn't love me… she couldn't love me. Because she loved that man, he had gained even more power than I could have thought would have been possible! There was no way that I could have gained that much power… I guess, there was only one thing I could do to make sure I still got what I wanted… if I couldn't have her, then I would get the next best thing no matter what…_

_I don't care how long it takes me; I shall have my revenge in one way or another… I will have what I want… even if it isn't her love for me, but I will take what means so much from her and her lover… I shall have a pack, something that should have been mine, something that could have been mine if she had only loved me, and we had so many children together… but that dream will never come true now… because of him… oh well… I have a plan forming in my head… for my old life is over, and my new life, shall begin…_

"Damn… I kinda feel bad for the guy but it seemed that either this girl really loved that blonde guy, or she just loved power. But, I'm thinking it was the first…" Naruto calmly said before flipping through the pages. Yup, that was the last one, and nothing about a cure. Damn it!

_Knock, Knock, Knock_

Great what now? Setting the book aside, Naruto pushed himself up from his bed and made his way to the door of his apartment, wondering who could possibly be at his place now of all times?! Opening the door, he was about to yell until his words died in his throat, for standing in front of him was Hinata… Her beautiful lavender eyes staring at him in concern, he knew that this was going to happen at some point but… he hadn't wanted it to happen.

"Naruto, are you okay? I haven't… haven't seen you for so long…" Hinata whispered before looking down at the ground. Damn it, this really tugged at his heart strings. Gulping, he asked if Hinata wanted to come in, she of course did. At least he knew two things… one, he couldn't escape even if he wanted to, and two… he didn't want to make Hinata feel any worse than she already does. Once she sat down at the table, Hinata looked up at the blonde haired teen, looking like she was about to cry.

"Hinata… I'm sorry I haven't seen you… I really am but… I guess I've just been… busy…"_ 'More like ashamed…' _he added in his mind before sitting down across from her. Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto knew that she would have come to visit him, unless she had tried in the past but he hadn't been home for him to have seen her. He couldn't really be sure of when was the last time she had visited was but he wasn't going to ask.

Hinata sniffled a little before taking a deep breath. "I… I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Kiba said that when you left the hospital you seemed upset about something." Ah right, Kiba had gone to visit him for Hinata because she's had meetings all week before he went home so he saw him. Looking at her for a moment, her blue hair draped over her eyes… Naruto carefully reached over and moved her bangs aside as he gave her a small smile, just wanting to cheer her up.

"I'm sorry; I guess I've had a lot on my mind, like with the beast attack…"

"I know… but, I don't think… he's really all that bad…"

"What makes you say that?" asked Naruto with confusion.

"I don't know… I… it just feels like I've seen that wolf before but I can't put my finger on it…"

So… she felt that it was him in that form… but at the same time, she didn't know that it was him that had tried to help her that night… Even if he had tried to attack her as well. Breathing deeply, the young man ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think on what he was to say now. It just didn't seem like he would be able to handle it if he lost her because she knew the truth, that he was the monster that had tried to attack her that night.

"Oh, um… Tsunade wanted me to tell you something before I left the tower."

Looking up at his girlfriend, Naruto tilted his head to the side as he tried to think on what it was that Hinata needed to tell him. Just what was so important that Tsunade would have Hinata tell him instead of her? Must have a lot of paper work maybe, though he couldn't really be sure what it could have been nor did he care at the moment. He just cared about Hinata, and wanted her to be happy…

"She's giving us a mission. Since she went over some of your files, she figured that you should be fine enough to go on a mission with me and Kiba, she'll just have to give you a quick check-up tomorrow before we go."

Okay, right now he was scared… what kind of mission was Tsunade sending them on? Gulping, he asked "what is the mission?" He was scared of the blue haired woman's answer, scared that it would be something that he didn't want to hear and it had him worried that it would make him want to crawl away in a hole somewhere just to protect himself…

"You, me and Kiba are going to look for that monster and take it out… we have no choice or it may attack Konoha…"

Yup, he was right… he didn't like that at all…


	12. New Mission

**Note: originally, I wasn't going to post this until after Christmas due to cleaning and preparing for a party but it seems mom is putting things off a little until the last minute, so I wrote this up in my spare time and didn't want to wait anymore, anyway here is the next chapter and I honestly have no idea when I'll update again before tomorrow or on Christmas Day...**

* * *

Naruto couldn't believe what was going on… His mind was telling him time and time again that _'I'm in some serious shit now…'_ mostly because he was going on a mission, to take himself out! Damn it all, why couldn't this be any easier for him? No matter what, he couldn't tell them that the monster that Hinata saw was him. Knowing that if he told them, they would either think that he was insane, or that he was telling the truth and tried to kill him. Breathing in deeply, Naruto tried to get himself to calm down, maybe if he remained calm for the duration of the mission, he wouldn't transform in front of Hinata and Kiba, thus, keeping himself safe.

It was selfish yes, but he couldn't allow himself to be taken out yet.

Reaching over for his clothes, well, the new ones he bought since none of them had fit him anymore besides the ones he bought with Hinata that one time. Sighing softly, he grabbed the newly sized orange jacket, with his newly sized black pants for his attire. After that, he grabbed his forehead protector before tying it around his forehead and frowned a bit. He was thankful that the strap was long or else it may not have fit his forehead, thinking that his head had to grow as well with his newly grown torso.

_'Am I doing the right thing by going on this mission?'_ thought Naruto as he let out a soft sigh. It just seemed that no matter what, he just couldn't get over the fact that he was being sent on a mission that would or could, end up getting himself killed or revealing the secret that he had been trying to hide for weeks now.

Letting out a soft sigh, the young man turned around and made his way to his dresser and pulled out a pouch for his thigh that held his kunai and strapped it to his left thigh and a pouch to attach to the back of his waist at the right side. Yawning softly, the young man stretched his arms above his head as he let himself to try to calm down. Everything was just spiralling out of control and he felt like it was starting to enclose on him… to choke him, suffocate him. Rubbing his forehead, Naruto took a deep breath only to wince and pull his hand back.

Damn it, his nerves were really fried right now… his nails had grown into claws. "Just gotta remain calm." Whispered the young man, breathing in and out as he tried to get his nerves to relax. He knew that it was going to be difficult, but it would be worth it so long as he could remain in control over himself. This was going to be difficult, and he knew that but… "Ugh! I don't know what to think!" shouted Naruto, digging his fingers in his head only to yelp and pull his hands away from his hair and curse. "Damn it!" shouted Naruto before walking over to his couch and lied down.

Everything just seemed to be out of sorts, he was driving himself insane already and the mission hasn't even begun yet!

Looking at his hands, Naruto just watched as the claws started to retract from his sense of calm. He couldn't help but wonder… would he hurt Hinata with these very hands? Would he even be aware of it or would his mind block out the memory like it did before? He couldn't be sure, and it scared him greatly. The thought of hurting her, of harming her frightened him and it made him want to cry but damn it, he wouldn't shed any tears.

Frowning a bit, Naruto reached over for the book that he got from the library and looked through it again. None of these entries were dated, the only one that was, had been sixteen years ago in September… whoever this was, he was crazy, insane, and obsessed with some woman and a blonde haired man. Whoever was this woman, he felt bad for her to have someone this crazy following her around… and then of course gaining some kind of crazy power of a wolf that would get him to think that she would love this man, whoever he was…

Shaking his head, the young man pushed himself up and grabbed his backpack from the corner and started to pack up what he could. Knowing that this mission would be long, there was going to be at least a two week limit, if he didn't transform for those two weeks, and remained calm then they would never know, and everything would be perfect… he could keep living a… semi-normal life and nothing would ever bother him ever again. Breathing deeply, Naruto packed up a few packets of ramen, some pork ramen since meat was the only thing that he really craved though there would be the odd time they may have to go out hunting…

Frowning a little, Naruto wondered if he could transform so he could hunt… maybe let his wolf instincts to do the hunting for him? _'No, that is a huge risk, if I do that there is a good chance that I could very well end my own life!'_ thought the young man with a small glare before shaking his head and letting out a soft sigh. Things just couldn't be any easier for him could they? It all just seemed to throw itself back in his face somehow and it was only getting worse.

"Maybe I'm over thinking this… there has to be a way I could transform without Hinata or Kiba being around me?" He sighed a little more before rubbing a hand on his forehead, happy that he didn't cut himself again. There just has to be something that he could do to get himself from getting discovered, for he has no idea how long he can last without transforming for he has never prevented that before but then again, he seemed to be doing just fine without transforming thus far since all he's done was a partial transformation.

"I need more information…" he whispered softly, though he wasn't sure if the book would be much help for him at this point. Shaking his head, the young man finished packing up everything that he needed and slung it over his shoulders before walking out of his apartment and locked the door behind him. Before Hinata had left yesterday, he had been told that they were going to meet at the main gate. At least that gave him some time to think on what he could do…

Everything seemed to slow down around him, though he wasn't sure if it was the despair of going on this mission that slowed down time, or that he was just bored. Either way, it was the same result for him he figured… **"Why do you try to hide your new form from your friends…?" **said a new voice, one he knew that didn't belong to the Kyuubi. Blinking in shock, the young man looked around, trying to figure out if maybe the source of the voice was nearby, and not something as a sign that he was also losing his sanity.

_'Dear god I have to be losing my mind next…'_ thought Naruto with a hint of fear.

A deep laughter echoed through his mind, causing Naruto to yelp a bit and turn around, hoping that it was just deep in his mind and that he wasn't being followed. **"Do not worry Naruto; I'm just… well let's say that I'm a part of you. The wolf part anyway…"**

_'Where's the Kyuubi?'_ thought Naruto with confusion.

**"He has been… I guess you can say put to sleep. He is still within you and you still have access to his chakra but for now, I'll be the only voice you hear in your mind."** said the voice in his head, the wolf part of him huh? It was rather odd that he was hearing it now, since he had transformed a while ago. Though thought that maybe it was because he wasn't listening before and now was the only chance it could speak to him since his thoughts were in so much turmoil that he had forced itself to be heard after so long.

_'Okay that answers why I haven't heard that annoying fox but… why do you care if I tell my friend's or not about… my problem…?'_ asked Naruto.

The wolf laughed softly, almost as if he found this so very amusing. How the hell was this amusing anyway? It all just seemed like one big nightmare to him and that he hoped he would be waking up soon… any time now… come on… please, wake up! **"This is no dream Naruto… this is all too real and you live with this curse… you have to end this curse once and for all Naruto… though, if you do kill the one that turned you, there is the chance that you won't return to normal even then…"**

_'I could be stuck like this forever?'_ thought Naruto with shock written all over his face… shock, and horror. He didn't want to be like this forever… to live every day like he was some kind of monster. The thought of it brought chills to go up his spin over and over again. It would be like being in a never ending nightmare… something that he didn't want and it scared him greatly. Rubbing his left temple, Naruto hoped that speaking to this voice wouldn't cause him to go insane and push him further to becoming some kind of wild animal. It had him worried about his safety and the safety of those around him.

Breathing deeply, the wolf calmly said **"I said, you 'may' remain like this. There is no for sure way of knowing, for there, to my knowledge and from what you've read, has only been one other person that is a wolf like you, then of course the one that bit you. Though there could also be more but not near Konoha." **Naruto frowned a little, okay that made sense though he couldn't really be sure if there was more or if there was less. To be honest, he hated to admit it but the wolf in his mind was right, there really was no way of knowing if there were more… **"Damn you're an idiot I swear…"** muttered the wolf.

_'And you're an asshole…'_ thought Naruto with bored eyes. Sure, no one knew what his gaze was about but then again he couldn't tell them that he was talking to a voice in his head. If he did, he'd see himself in a big white, soft room with him in a strait jacket. Yes, that was how he saw himself if he told anyone that he was talking to a voice that was in his mind… there was, after all the odd chance that he would end up there anyway…

Shaking his head, the young man kept on walking toward the main gate. Maybe if he ignored the wolf, he could still be declared as sain… or at least, sainish… That was the only thing he had left was his sanity and he wasn't going to lose it, not now, nor ever for that matter. Letting out a soft sigh, the young blonde shinobi looked up at the sky and saw that it was still early, so he may end up early, though he couldn't really be sure of that since there was no way of knowing if the others would be early like him or late like Kakashi… okay, maybe not as late as Kakashi since he was late by hours…

Sighing softly, Naruto dug his hands in his pockets as he tried to think of something else… maybe there was something that he could think about to get himself to relax… though so far, it didn't seem that it would have worked for him anyway…

"Naruto!" shouted a voice, causing the blonde haired teen to look up and frowned a bit as he tilted his head. Standing at the gate was Hinata and Kiba. Both of which had bright smiles on their faces, they were happy to see him out and about, that was easy to see though, he still feared for their safety. "I was worried you wouldn't show up." Hinata said with a soft and gentle smile on her face.

He laughed and folded his arms behind his head as he said "what me? Skip out on a mission? You've got to be kidding me Hinata!" He chuckled a little, but deep down, he was still very upset about the whole thing, thinking, worrying about what could happen if he wasn't careful. There was no telling what could happen if he wasn't careful and he wasn't going to risk that, not ever… or could he? No… he would just have to be extra careful while on this mission and he knew that much at the very least.

"It's been a while Naruto, what have you been doing anyway?" asked Kiba with a bit of a frown.

"I've been training on my own." Calmly answered Naruto, which wasn't really a lie, in fact it was the truth. Just not telling them though on what he was training for since he was supposed to be resting but he couldn't help bit… He had been about to be driven insane from not doing anything else and had to be active. Though maybe he could have dropped by now and again to let them know that he was okay… though, he couldn't help bit with the way he's been lately thanks to his curse… "Don't worry guys; I'm fine, though… I offer to do the hunting… alone."

"Why?"

"I want to test to see if I can do some hunting thanks to my training… huh? Where's Akamaru?" asked Naruto with a frown. It was rather odd that he didn't see the white dog since he was always with Kiba, not once has Naruto seen Kiba away from Akamaru for anything unless they were getting check-ups at the same time. This was new indeed…

"Oh, Akamaru had to get a quick check-up before we left so Hana is looking after him then as soon as he's okay to go Akamaru will come over." Kiba said with a grin on his face. Still, that was strange, Naruto was sure that Kiba would have stayed with his partner until he was given the okay for him to leave. "Hana told me to come on over to make sure if you or Hinata showed up first to let one of you or both to know what's going on." He must have figured that's what Naruto was curious about, either Kiba could read Naruto that well, or he was going to explain either way…

Though, maybe it was best that the giant white dog wasn't near him, knowing that if it happened that he would end up speaking to Akamaru and that would drive him crazy again. It still bothered him that he could hear and understand Akamaru when Kiba found him after the full moon and it scared the crap out of him when that had happened though he had been in too much pain at the time to really give a damn about it.

Now though, it still bothered him that he was freaking out about something that he couldn't control about… was that normal though? Or was he just being stupid and freaking out about nothing? It wasn't like they would think of him as a freak right or… would they because he was speaking to a dog when only members of Kiba's clan could understand dogs? It was all starting to confuse him, though at least he was calm… Looking over at Hinata, Naruto blushed a soft pink before he pulled her close as he said "I've missed you while I was training… I'm sorry that I haven't spent a lot of time with you…"

"It's okay…"

"No it's not… I'm a terrible boyfriend to have ignored you like that and I am so very sorry." He whispered gently, not thinking before he kissed Hinata gently. He wanted to tell her so badly, to tell her that it was him that had been close to attacking her that night on the night of the full moon but damn it, he couldn't tell her… he just couldn't tell her that he had turned into some kind of monster and it scared him of how she would react if she had found out that he was a monster…

"Whoa, you guys are dating!?" shouted Kiba, causing Naruto to blush deeply before pulling back. Right… he hadn't told anyone that he was dating Hinata. Giving a nervous laugh, he let Hinata go and turned around, carefully looking at his hands as he saw that his nails turned into claws… it was weird how that was the only thing to change if he was nervous… or at least the first thing to change on him. Breathing deeply, the young man relaxed a little before digging his hands into his pockets once again and turned back to face the confused brown haired teen.

"Yeah, we're dating… been for a little while though… with everything happening haven't been able to make it official or let anyone know." Naruto said with a bit of a nervous laugh before turning away from the gate. Suddenly, a loud bark was heard, causing everyone to face forward and saw a big white barking down, his long ears flopping in the air as he rushed toward Kiba. "Well, it looks like we're gonna leave now." Naruto mumbled under his breath before looking up as the gate started to open. Well… he may as well get this over and done with, he was sure that two weeks wouldn't be that bad… right?


	13. Important Note

hey everyone, just a heads up, I got a call that I was hired so I start my new job at Wendy's around the 5th of January, so I don't know when I'll update but I'll try to update what I can now and again so please, do not expect quick updates... anyway, I hope you all enjoyed your christmas.


	14. Hunt Gone Wrong

Naruto didn't know how long he could handle this… he was itching to change already but he couldn't when he was with Kiba and Hinata. It was difficult for him as it was just trying to prevent himself from sniffing Hinata. Why did this curse be so difficult for him?! It's only been two days since they've been on this mission and they've never seen the damn wolf that had changed him, even though they think it was the one that attacked those guys.

"Naruto you okay?" asked Hinata.

"I'm fine!" shouted Naruto, only to blush and look down in shame. Running a hand through his spiky blonde locks, Naruto calmly said "sorry… though why do you ask why do you ask if something is wrong?" He tilted his head at Hinata and frowned a little, was there something that was wrong with him to cause concern for Hinata? Maybe he was just a little tense… just a little anyway…

"You're shaking and twitching…" Hinata said with a small frown on her face. It was that obvious for them to see him that distressed? Though it seems that they didn't know what was causing it so he was thankful for that though he just hoped that it stayed that way. The fear of them finding out was a terrible thing though he didn't know that if they were to find out, would they accept him for the curse or would want to kill him for it?

**"Naruto, if they really cared about you, they wouldn't care if you were a werewolf or not…"** said the wolf in Naruto's mind. Okay, that did bring him a little bit of peace but it didn't help to bring him a peace of mind. Though that only gave him a tiny bit, not enough for him to tell Hinata or Kiba the truth yet… or ever for that matter. Sure, it wasn't right of him to hide this from him but it was for the best, he had no choice for the time being…

Giving Hinata a big smile, the young man calmly said "yeah, I'm just a little wired up right now. I think it was all of those sweets I've been snacking on since we've been out here." Okay that was a total lie but they also wouldn't know that he's been snacking or not since he's made sure to stay at the back of the group so they wouldn't know if he had been eating or not. Letting out a soft chuckle, Naruto added "I may be like this for a while though since sweets take a… very long time to work its way out of my system."

"Maybe we should rest a bit. We have been walking for hours now and I'm starting to get hungry…" Kiba said suddenly, causing Naruto and Hinata to look at him for a moment. Now that he thought about it, he was a little hungry and could go for some meat right about now. "Hey Naruto, you wanna go hunting?" asked Kiba as he started to set his pack down and pull out a treat for Akamaru. It wouldn't hurt for him to do a little hunting… Nodding, Naruto turned toward the forest, walking off of the path and made his way toward the forest. "Hey wait-"

"We agreed that if I was to hunt, I'd do it alone." Naruto said before he disappeared from their sights.

He knew that it was cruel for him reject Kiba's offer to help with the hunt but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to do this; it was the only way to get this twitching and burning desire to transform out of his system. If he didn't, he may go insane at this point. Breathing deeply, the young man looked around the area making sure that no one was around him. It was the worst thing for him to be feeling like this… to feel like he was crawling around in his own skin and that the only thing he could do was to shift into that… that _form_ of his and learn to harness its power… maybe if he focused on it, all of it, he could do a full transformation?

Breathing deeply, the young man looked around as he tried to think that he would not be followed right now. Then of course he would have to change into something else so _if_ Kiba and Hinata had seen him, they wouldn't put two and two together. Yawning softly, Naruto took one last look around the forest, wanting to find a safe spot for his bag for while he would go hunting and so he could change into those torn pants that he had been wearing after he had transformed the first time. There was no way that he was going to ruin another pair of pants.

Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto found a hollowed out tree that would be perfect for him! Smiling all the more, the young man made his way over to the tree and knelt down on the ground before grabbing his bag and started to go through it. He had to find those pants so he could change and hide his clothes.

Breathing deeply, Naruto pulled out the slightly torn pants though it made him at least a little happy that it was still in some good shape. Looking up at the sky, Naruto saw that it was late, well, more so than he thought would have been… _'I must have been really out of it today…'_ thought the young man with a bit of a shrug before he started to strip. Removing his headband, then his jump suit. Damn, he was just so happy that he was able to get some clothes that fit his new frame perfectly.

Once he had managed to remove his pants, the young man threw all of his clothes in his bag and threw on the slightly torn pants. Being careful, the young man moved some bushes to hide the opening in the tree and ran off hoping that he would be able to hide his bag. Breathing deeply, Naruto jumped over a log and looked around one last time before he closed his eyes. He focused on all of the emotions that were surging through his body; he wanted to be sure that nothing bad would happen to those that he cared about.

Soon, his skin started to crawl, started to burn. Though, unlike the first transformation, it didn't hurt as bad. It didn't feel like he was being torn apart from within but it did hurt him a little. Naruto's breathing became a little ragged though he had some control so he wouldn't black out this time… This time, he would have full control, he wouldn't hurt anyone this time… he won't harm anyone not so long as he could help it. Tightly shutting his eyes, the young man gritted his teeth as he felt his bones cracking, breaking, shattering and repairing themselves as they reformed for his transformation.

Letting out a gasping breath, the young man felt his spine stretching as he felt his body stretching, his face stretching as it tried to form a muzzle, his ears as well had started to stretch and point out toward the sky. Grey fur had started to grow; he could feel it all as it happened.

Opening his eyes, Naruto looked around, the pain had subsided and… he felt like he was in total control. Why was that? Shaking his head, the now fully transformed teen looked at his hands seeing that they were large, and was tipped with claws. Sharp ones at that, ones that he knew could tear through steel if provoked. Taking a deep breath, Naruto was confused as to why his thoughts were still intact for when he had first transformed he didn't have any control and had attacked those guys.

Reaching up, the young man grabbed his ears and felt that they were soft thanks to the grey fur that covered them, in fact it made him think of a normal dog's fur. Odd…

Shaking his head, Naruto took a step; it was odd to feel like he grew a few dozen feet when in reality, he had only grown maybe five feet? Maybe three he couldn't really be sure. Only that he was really tall compared to his usual height. Making his way to the small pond that resided in the woods, Naruto blinked as he stared at his reflection. Almost letting out a yelp he couldn't help but stare at himself a little more closely. Curling his lips back, he could make out razor sharp teeth, teeth that could easily rip people apart like his claws though he wouldn't do that… at least not while he was in control.

**"You have control because it's natural and because of your training Naruto. The first time you transformed it was too much for your human mind to control or to fight back for control though in a way, you did have some control the night you first transformed."**

_'What do you mean? I lost total control…'_

**"Nope, you heard Hinata's cries for help while she was held down like that. You gained enough control to go to protect the woman you've chosen as your mate."**

_'Mate?'_

**"Damn it you really are dense. Now that you've become a werewolf, you can choose your soul mate so much easier. Like the scent, when you smelled Sakura, you smelled her true scent, the scent of perfume which you hate because it's fake and not their natural scent."**

Okay, that was true; he did hate fake scents and knew that it would only make things more difficult for when animals would track anything or anyone. Though what did it have anything to do with Hinata though being his soul mate? None of this was making any kind of sense to him but then again, what did at this point?

**"Hinata's natural scent is the things that you enjoy the most… Lavender and vanilla, those are the scents you love the most and that was what told you Hinata was your soul mate.**

That was rather weird to find out who your soul mate was but it made sense in a way. Wolves are always able to tell who their mates were, in some strange natural way. It was just the way things worked for him and it had him curious as to what worked for them and how it would work. Though at least things would work out easier for him in some way right? He could use these abilities of his to keep Hinata safe in some way though he couldn't be sure if his powers would stay safe… wait why did he think of them as powers instead of a curse that time?

Breathing deeply, Naruto looked around the forest as he tried to focus on his senses. If he was going to hunt, may as well trust the wolf that was within him at this moment. Ears perking at a strange sound, Naruto turned to the left and saw a white tiger… that was weird. Why was there a white tiger here? Aren't they normally in the mountains or better yet in the _snowy_ mountains?

Narrowing his gold and blue eyes, the wolf followed the tiger from a distance. Wanting to make sure that he didn't scare it, or worse have it attack him before he was fully prepared… What bothered the young man though, was what was making him curious as to where the tiger was going in the first place. There was something weird about the path that it was taking…

_'Where are you going…?'_ thought the grey furred and blonde haired wolf. Growling softly, Naruto stalked the tiger trying to think on where it could be going only to gasp when camp came into sight. It was after Hinata and Kiba! _'Oh hell no!' _thought Naruto before he rushed forward and howled at the tiger and jumped it. The tiger was strong, though Naruto was stronger. The tiger managed to kick Naruto in the stomach with its back legs and jump out of the trees, wanting to eat its 'weak' looking prey.

"Holy shit it's a tiger!" shouted Kiba.

"Oh god it's the wolf!" shouted Hinata when she saw Naruto jump out of the forest. He wanted to wince but right now, he had to pretend that he was a wild animal. One that didn't care about them but… he also had to get this tiger away from them too or better yet kill the animal before it could hurt them.

Naruto growled at the tiger and braced itself before jumping the tiger once again. The tiger growled and bit Naruto's shoulder, causing him to howl in pain before tightening his hand into a tight fist and threw it at the tiger, he wanted to be sure that this tiger knew who was boss. Nothing was going to stop him! Nothing would stop him from protecting his friends, he would be sure that nothing would ever hurt them! The tiger swung its paw at Naruto's face, causing him to yelp and whimper out in pain. Covering his face, Naruto felt blood oozing slightly out of his wound though what he smelled was fear coming from Hinata and Kiba.

But that didn't stop them from trying to fight back.

Hinata rushed forward and slammed her palm at the tiger's side, causing it to hiss and swing its claws at her, slicing up her arm. Hinata screamed out in pain and Kiba grabbed her pulling the bleeding woman away. When Hinata's blood reached Naruto's nose… that was when he lost it. Letting out an enraged howl, the young man rushed forward and slashed at the tiger with a rage that was so hot and intense that it would have burned anyone that was inches from his body.

Screaming, roaring, howling, Naruto did it all as he felt the desire to kill the animal that had dared to harm Hinata, to dare cut her skin and spill her blood. It was something that he's never felt before… and deep down, it did scare him but the wolf in him, told him over and over that this was because his woman, his mate, had been injured. The tiger yowled and tried to break free of Naruto's grasp, slashing and kicking as much as it could though Naruto's grip was powerful.

The tiger stared at Naruto with eyes that told him it was begging for its life to be spared. Naruto though, growled, his lips curling up to reveal his fangs as a way of saying that Naruto wasn't going to forgive him, that no matter what there would be no way for the tiger to be forgiven for what it had done. Naruto narrowed his eyes and twisted its neck. The only thing he would do was give it a quick and painless death. Nothing more and nothing less…

Turning around, Naruto saw that Kiba had managed to pull Hinata far away from the battle, though had gone to grab his bag… he must have thought that the wolf wouldn't think twice about them if they were downwind from him. Well, he thought wrong… A part of him was telling the blonde to get the hell out of there, to get away as fast as he could so he could revert to normal since in a sense, Naruto did get them meat even though they didn't know that.

Walking toward Hinata, he saw that she stared at him with her wide lavender eyes. She was scared, and it caused him to whimper a bit. As if telling her not to be afraid of him, that he was Naruto… that he would never harm her so long as he lived but, deep down he knew that it wouldn't happen. That she would be scared of him if she knew the truth about him… that he had been curse to live like this for the rest of his life. Looking down at her arm, the wound wasn't deep but it would need to be cleaned… Kneeling to Hinata, Naruto slowly reached out for her, not wanting to scare her any more than he already did…

"Stay… stay away." Whispered the blue haired woman, her body trembling.

Gently, Naruto held onto Hinata's hand with his thumb and index finger since using his whole hand would only cause her to think he would pull her away since his hand would cover hers… He looked down at her arm, seeing that she was still trembling. Closing his eyes for a moment, Naruto leaned down and licked her wound, hoping that would clean it, even if it was only a little bit. He wanted to make sure that she wouldn't need anything else to clean it… he should be the only one to clean or treat any wound she gets…

Once he was sure that it wouldn't need any more cleaning, the young man looked up and stared at Hinata for a brief moment. His eyes staring into hers as if trying to tell her something… The blue haired woman just stared at him, her body no longer shaking in fear though she did stare at him with a hint of confusion. Did she know what he was trying to say or… was she trying to figure out if he was really a threat to her or anyone for that matter.

Suddenly, Naruto threw his head back and howled in pain. Something had stabbed him in the shoulder, without thinking, Naruto grabbed whatever it was and threw it away from him. "Kiba!" shouted Hinata, causing Naruto to turn around and saw that Kiba had been the one to stab him. Growling, he reached back and grabbed the object that had been used to injure him before dropping it, seeing that it was a kunai that did it. Growling one last time… Naruto ran off into the forest hoping to get away.

* * *

Once he got far away, Naruto had managed to revert to normal, breathing heavily. "Damn it that hurts." Muttered Naruto as he rubbed his shoulder. Whatever coated that kunai it really hurt and it still stung, more so than the tiger clawing at his face though when he had looked at his reflection in the water's surface, he saw that it had healed. Maybe injuries caused by animals healed quicker than weapons?

Shaking his head, Naruto winced slightly as he reached into the hollowed out tree and breathed deeply as he started to change and put on his normal attire. He didn't know what more he could do about trying to hide his secret… that had been a huge risk for him to have gotten close to them but it had meant something knowing that he had managed to protect them. Letting out a soft sigh, the young man zipped up his jacket and grabbed his headband before tying it around his forehead.

_'I have to be more careful…'_ thought the young man as he slung his bag over his shoulders, only to hiss in pain when it brushed his wounded shoulder. Damn it that hurts like a son of a bitch! Shaking his head, the young man knew that he would have to be careful or else they would know that he was wounded by them… there was no way that he could risk it. He would just have to pretend that nothing happened, that nothing hurt him in the first place though that would be harder than it sounded at this point.

**"Naruto, sooner or later, they will find out…"**

He chose to ignore the wolf this time; he wasn't going to let them find out this time. He would make sure that nothing, nothing would ever reveal his curse to his friends. There wouldn't be anything or anyone that would get to them this time. Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto wondered through the forest, rubbing his shoulder now and again and really wishing that he didn't with how bad it hurt right now. Damn it, where was Kyuubi's healing when you needed it?! At least it would heal his wounds right now!

"Naruto!" shouted a voice, causing Hinata to look up in shock. Blinking his eyes, he saw Hinata rushing toward him with Kiba and Akamaru. Hm… now that he thought about it where was Akamaru during the whole thing? Or better yet… did the dog know who he was during that battle? If that was the case, it would amaze him as to why he hadn't told Kiba yet. Letting out a soft breath, Naruto saw that Hinata rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him, causing Naruto to yelp and hiss in pain. "Oh god are you okay?!" asked Hinata in shock and concern.

"Yeah I'm fine… I… tripped and fell, landing on my back in the progress." Said Naruto, hoping that would be enough to explain things to her and Kiba. Chuckling, Naruto gave Hinata a soft smile before he kissed her gently. "You okay though?"

"Yeah… why?"

"I heard a weird commotion going on and I tried to find where it was but couldn't find it. When I heard it stopped I assumed you guys did something."

"That wolf showed up with a tiger. The tiger is dead and I cut up some of the meat for us to eat. Why didn't you show up sooner?!" shouted Kiba.

"Like I said, I thought it was further away from you guys." Said Naruto.

Kiba stared at Naruto with a raised eyebrow for a moment before shaking his head. "Let's go eat and sleep for the night. Maybe we can just go and sleep up a plan to get that wolf and kill it." As soon as Kiba had said that, Naruto could have sworn he felt his face grow pale for a moment. He couldn't believe that Kiba really wanted to kill the wolf, him, so badly…

"Naruto, why is there blood on your shoulder?" asked Hinata.

Damn it, the blood must have seeped through his jacket. Turning to stare at her, he gave Hinata a bright smile saying "I must have cut myself after I removed my jacket and shirt while I went hunting…" He laughed a little; it seemed believable at least to his ears. For some reason though… Hinata just stared at his eyes searching for something… like she knew he was hiding something from her and wasn't ready to tell her… did Hinata see something in his eyes when he was a wolf or was he only seeing things? He didn't know and he hoped that Hinata never found out… he never… wanted her to be scared of him ever again.


	15. The Wolf's Out of the Bag

Naruto let out a soft sigh as he sank in the water. His shoulder still hurt from when Kiba had stabbed him when he was in his werewolf form but at least they didn't seem to have noticed. Though… what he couldn't really be sure if is Hinata knew or not… not with the way she had been looking at him. There was something, something in her eyes that told him that she knew something was up… That there was something he was hiding from her…

Closing his eyes, the young man knew that he couldn't keep this a secret forever but… could he tell her the truth? Would she believe him? Think of him a monster and never want to see him ever again because he was no longer a normal human being? Or would she still love him no matter what? He didn't know, and it still scared the hell outta him. Thinking that Hinata was going to leave him, or even try to kill him. Rubbing his face, the young man tried to think of something else, he didn't want to keep thinking about this anymore. It just seemed that this was all just causing him distress and his distress had caused his nails to grow into claws.

"Damn nerves…" he muttered to himself before letting out a soft sigh and leaned back in the hot water, his hands lying at his sides as he looked up at the sky. It seemed like they've been out here forever, and he didn't know just how long they would be in the forest for. It had only been a week since the mission started and yet he didn't want to go home. Thinking that if he did then he could be exposed and everything would go downhill from there.

Letting out a sad yet soft sigh, Naruto sank a little more in the water, the hot water just reaching his shoulders as he tried to get himself to calm down and relax a little. Maybe if he could just calm down and not transform again… at all, then there wouldn't be any more risks like with the tiger…

Closing his eyes, Naruto frowned at the memory… It was rather odd that a tiger would be out here in the first place. Where could it have come from and better yet, did it belong to someone? That was the only way it could have been all the way out here instead of it being wild. There had to be something behind it, the reason for the tiger being all the way out here… though he could come up with nothing. He had hoped that it didn't belong to some rich guy; he didn't want to have someone screaming in his ear right now.

Shuddering at the thought of pain in his ears, it made him scared of the animal belonging to someone. Breathing deeply, the young man inhaled as he tried to get himself to calm down and relax. There had to be something, anything that he could do for the time being while they relaxed for the night. "What am I to do…?" asked Naruto, not really sure what he could do to get all of this to make sense to him. It almost seemed that no matter what, he just couldn't get all of this to stop his puzzled wolf mind to focus on what it was that bothered him the most. "Was that tiger sent to kill us…?" Hm… now that he thought about it, the tiger seemed more focused on Hinata than anyone else… or, it could be because Hinata did attack… though he did sense its desire to kill her now that he thought about it…

"But why…?" he whispered to himself, not really expecting an answer to be honest… though it would have been nice if he could get that answer. Shaking his head, his spiky blonde hair swaying from the movement as he had tried to think on what he could have done… on what he could do to try to figure this whole thing out but it seemed that no matter what, he just couldn't think of anything that would give him any idea as to what could have been the reason could have been but so far, he would come up empty handed…

Shaking his head, the young man ran a wet hand through his hair before dunking his head in the water and surfaced, breathing deeply. "Jeez…" He breathed deeply; this was something that he really did need to help him relax. It was just one of the few things that always helped him to relax, or even to clear his thoughts though he just hoped that it would last for a while before he started to panic again. Looking up at the sky, the young man saw that it was starting to get a little late. Sighing softly, the young man pushed himself up onto his feet and walked over to the water's edge before leaving the springs and started to get dressed. Maybe if he was lucky, they would find the other wolf and destroy it and he would return to normal… though, that was also assuming that it worked that way…

Pulling his boxers on, Naruto stiffened when he felt like he was being watched. Turning around, Naruto growled softly as he said "who's there?!" He demanded to know who the hell was there, and what they wanted from him. He didn't sense any killer intent from whatever it was that was that was watching him. So maybe it was just a docile animal, he couldn't really be sure.

_"Relax Naruto, I don't wanna hurt you…"_ said a voice, and coming out of the shadows was Akamaru. Okay, this was something that he hadn't expected. Yes, this was going to be weird since… it was a dog that was talking to him right now. _"Naruto, you can't ignore the fact that you can understand me you know and… you should tell them. I can't keep covering for you."_

"What are you talking about Akamaru?" asked Naruto, not sure what the dog meant by that. There was no way that he could have been covering for him. It just didn't make any kind of sense for a dog to be covering him, then again it didn't really make much sense for him to be able to even speak to said dog, but sadly thanks to that curse of his, he didn't really know what he was to do… or how to even respond for that matter.

_"I could have told Kiba what had happened, that he had stabbed you while you were in that form but I didn't. When he asked me of any evidence of you hunting and I told him yes."_ Akamaru calmly said before tilting his head at Naruto. As if he was questioning something that Naruto has had on his mind for quite a while now. _"Why have you not told them the truth?"_

Closing his eyes, unable to stare at Akamaru… okay well how could he? He was talking to a dog and he wasn't even part of Kiba's clan. It was a little weird-okay it was very weird. Shaking his head, the young man grabbed his pants and threw them on as he tried to get himself dressed before he went back to camp. Right now, he had to make sure that the others didn't worry about him… It was bad enough that he still had trouble controlling most of his transformations when his nerves were tangled or fried.

Akamaru sighed softly as he said _"Naruto… you can't hide this forever. One day, they will find out and they'll feel like you didn't trust them."_ Taking a deep breath, Akamaru added_ "also, if Kiba is really your friend, and Hinata really loves you, they will still accept you." _With that said and done, the giant white dog started to walk away… Naruto of course just stood there as he started to go over the dog's words. Would they still accept him?

Or would they turn him away?

No, they would turn him away, they would think of him as nothing but a monster if he were to tell them the truth of what he had become. He just couldn't deal with it if that had happened. Shaking his head, the young man took a deep breath and reached over for his shirt and slipped it over his head and slipped his arms through the sleeves. It just wasn't possible; hell that guy in that journal he found couldn't even get the woman he wanted though… that was because the woman was in love with someone else. Unlike him, Naruto had someone who loved him but… it had him worried that it wasn't enough to get past his curse…

Shaking his head, the young man stretched his arms above his head before slipping his jacket on and packed up his bathing supplies. At least he could enjoy a nice quiet walk back to camp before he would fall asleep. It would be nice to just enjoy all of this…

Yawning into the back of his hand, Naruto started to think on Akamaru's words… man, he just couldn't get over the fact that he could speak to Akamaru… If the others had heard that it would make it seem like he was crazy. _'Maybe I am crazy for hearing a dog talk to me like a human and for answering…' _thought the blonde haired shinobi. If they really did care about him, would they care that he had been forced to live with this curse?

Man, things just seemed like they couldn't get any easier for him could they? In fact, it almost seemed like they only got more complicated for him and it really started to bother him greatly. It would be easier if he could learn to accept his problems instead of making up excuses for himself to not tell them but damn it… they were just so convincing excuses for him not to tell him. The fear of being rejected flowed through his body like an ever flowing river that it just did not help to quell his fear of them finding out and rejecting him…

In fact, it almost seemed like it would grow with each passing day that he had to deal with this. Sighing softly, the young man knew that sooner or later, that they would figure this out… and, for some reason he pictured everyone using torches and pitch forks to chase him out of the village were it to be told to the villagers of his curse. Now that had caused chills to go down his spine.

"I've got to stop putting those images in my head… it's starting to freak me out." Muttered Naruto as he tried to get himself to relax. It seemed that the images were getting worse, Hinata screaming at him to get away from her. Calling him a monster, a beast… that she could never love him because of him being a werewolf. It scared him to no end and it had him worried that there was something more that she would end up doing to him that would cause him to run away with his tail between his legs… This is ironic since he doesn't even have a tail and he was a werewolf…

Letting out a small dry laugh, only to end up sighing softly. The young man knew that it was only going to become more difficult for him as the days went on though he knew that he would be able to deal with it. He had so much inner strength though at least he hoped that it would be enough for him. Rubbing the back of his neck, Naruto hoped that everyone was asleep at the came right now, he didn't want to have to deal with them asking him anymore questions like if his shoulder was still hurting from after his hunting trip…

Suddenly, Naruto heard a howl, and Hinata's screams. "Hinata!" shouted Naruto before he rushed through the forest.

* * *

Hinata yelped in shock when she saw the werewolf come out of the trees. Though there was something off about it, she didn't know what it was but she could sense the evil aura pulsing off of this monster. "Hinata we have to kill it!" shouted Kiba as he pulled out some kunai. Hinata didn't believe in killing animals but sadly, Kiba was right. They had to kill it before it could bring any kind of harm to Konoha… doesn't mean that she would enjoy it though otherwise.

Gulping a bit, Hinata knew that she had to be careful, she was still injured by the tiger… though, she was amazed that her arm didn't hurt as bad as it should. In fact, now that she thought about it, it had stopped hurting her when the wolf had licked her wounded arm.

Looking up, Hinata yelped when she saw that the wolf was heading toward her. Why did it look so angry with her? Like she had done something wrong? Jumping out of the way, Hinata thrust her palm toward the wolf, only to stare in shock when it had easily moved out of the way. The wolf growled at the blue haired woman as it swung its clawed hand at her, hoping to rip into her. "Hinata!" shouted Kiba as he rushed forward with Akamaru. The wolf turned quickly and kicked the brown haired teen in the stomach before landing on its other foot and kicked Akamaru as well.

This wolf was powerful, but why did it move like a ninja? This didn't make any kind of sense to her and it was only serving to confuse the young woman.

"You… will die blue haired Hyuuga." Said the wolf, its voice, sounded like that of a man. His voice was deep, gruff and there was a sense of anger flowing off of him in waves. His anger washed over her, almost submerging her under water. This was all rather shocking that someone could have this much anger though she knew that this thing hated her for some unknown reason. Whatever that reason would be… she didn't know and feared for her life at that moment.

The wolf gave a wolfish smirk as he walked toward Hinata, looking ready to kill her. Yet, the young woman wasn't going to allow that to happen. She would make sure that she beat this thing, there was just no way that she would allow this to happen… she had to stay alive, for Naruto… She would not leave the only man she could ever love behind. Not like this… "Answer me this… why do you want me to die?" asked Hinata, her lavender eyes narrowed into slits.

The wolf smirked all the more as he stalked toward the blue haired teenager. His yellow eyes shined with malice as he looked ready to kill her. In fact, it didn't even seem like he was ever going to answer her, though Hinata knew that she would still have to defend herself, no matter if this wolf man attacked her or not. She did not care, she just had to stay alive until Kiba could collect himself again and push himself back up from the hit that he received.

Narrowing his eyes into slits, the wolf growled out "it's because of you, that I am not getting the pack member that I have chosen. He should have been mine in the first place! _Mine_ but I haven't been given that chance. If you're out of the way, then he'll join me." Soon, he started to throw his head back and let out a laugh that soon turned into a howl. It was rather odd to hear a wolf laugh like that but she wasn't going to complain about it, not at the moment anyway.

The wolf swung his fist at Hinata, the young woman jumped and rolled out of the way just in the nick of time. For if she hadn't, well, from what the tree looks like now she knew that she wouldn't have survived that. Looking at the tree, Hinata couldn't believe just how powerful this wolf was, for it had shattered the tree into splinters. Now, she was scared, scared that if the wolf was to land a hit then it would kill her. No second chance no nothing, she would die.

"Hinata!" shouted Kiba as he threw a kunai toward her, she saw him hiss as he wrapped an arm around his abdomen. It was easy to see that he was still in a great deal of pain, but it would be a while before he could move properly. Hell, she was amazed that Kiba was still alive, unless the wolf didn't use his full strength when it came to them, for he didn't want to fight them… but he would rather fight her… but why didn't he want to fight them? It made little to no sense at all so it had her a bit confused.

"Do not help her fool!" growled the wolf before turning to the brown haired teen. Hinata wondered why he spoke to Kiba, like he knew him from somewhere. But where and why? Shaking her head, Hinata held the kunai in her hand tightly as she tried to get herself to relax, this had to give her some kind of advantage, or at least some form of defence for he could easily dodge her Gentle Fist. This was going to be complicated…

"Hinata be careful! Something is wrong with this wolf; it isn't the same one that was in the village… There isn't a wound on its shoulder and his fur is black, not grey!" shouted Kiba.

That's it! That's why the wolf looked so different! It wasn't the same one! Wait… it wasn't the same one!? There was more than one?!

"Hinata look out!" shouted Kiba.

Looking up, Hinata screamed as the wolf had gotten closer to her while she was distracted. She couldn't move out of the way in time and knew that this was going to be the end, she was going to die! "Naruto!" shouted Hinata as she closed her eyes and tried to shield herself with her arms. She waited, and waited for the strike to come but had been surprised when she heard a howl of pain. Blinking slowly, the young woman opened her eyes slowly and started to move her arms away from her head as she looked ahead of her, and gasped at what she saw… "Naruto!" cried the young woman as she hugged Naruto with joy.

"Hinata get away from this thing…" growled out Naruto, his back still facing his girlfriend. The way Naruto sounded was almost… feral. She didn't know why that was but she wasn't going to complain about it, at least not at the moment. "Now Hinata, I'll hold him off so you, Kiba and Akamaru can get away…"

"He's after me Naruto…" whispered Hinata.

"Damn it… but why…?"

"He said something about me being the thing that prevented someone from joining his pack… whatever that means."

Naruto's body stiffened for a moment. Hinata knew that what she said had struck something in him, whatever that was she didn't know but there wasn't much of a point in asking him anyway. It just didn't seem like he would tell her anyway. The wolf growled and pushed himself back up onto his feet as he glared at Naruto, only to smile. This wolf seemed very pleased to see Naruto for some reason and it had her a little nervous as to what that reason could be. The wolf took a step closer, causing Naruto to take a step back and hold out his arm, as if trying to hide Hinata from the wolf's sight. "You stay the fuck away from her. It's me you want, I just know it… but… answer me this, why did you…?"

The wolf lowered his head, almost looking ashamed for a moment… before his shoulders started to shake and he threw his head back laughing like a mad man. _'This guy is crazy, what would he want from Naruto? What does this have to do with me and his 'pack' or whatever…?'_ thought Hinata with confusion, all of this was rather confusing and it made her wonder what she was to do. She couldn't let Naruto protect her all the time, she had to fight, after all she was a powerful shinobi too!

The wolf smirked as he said "you should have been mine Naruto… you should have been of my blood! But no, he had to have taken her away from me and I lost her forever." Looking up at Naruto for a moment, Hinata saw that Naruto's jaw tightened, his eyes widened for a moment before narrowing into slits. There was something more that he wasn't telling her, she just knew it though she wasn't sure what it could have been. Why was Naruto starting to look so nervous…?

"It's you… you're the man that… that turned into a werewolf for power just to get a woman to like you…" said Naruto in a whisper, though loud enough for anyone near to hear. Shaking his head, Naruto looked up at the wolf with a bored look. "Look man, I hate to break it to you but you didn't love her, you were obsessed with that woman and she just happened to love someone else. I also still don't know what it has anything to do with me."

The wolf growled before rushing forward and grabbed Naruto by the throat as he growled at him. Hinata screamed in horror as she tried to get the wolf to release Naruto from its hold. Though the grip that the wolf had over Naruto was as powerful as it seemed. Naruto gasped and wheezed as he tried to break the wolf's hold over his throat, all air seemed to have been blocked from the werewolf's hold over him.

"You know nothing pup, I am the alpha, you are the beta and you are not to defy me! Understand this!?" growled out the wolf as his eyes seemed to glow with rage. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the wolf, Hinata screamed and tried to hit the pressure points in the wolf's arms though it seemed that the muscles in the black furred wolf's arm was somehow blocking all of the pressure points in the wolf's body. It just seemed impossible for her to break Naruto free of his grasp.

"Fuck… you… asshole…" growled out Naruto before he started to claw at the hand that held onto him. The wolf growled as he started to tighten his hold over Naruto's throat. Naruto's skin started to turn ashen before it started to darken into a blue. Hinata knew that she had to do something before this wolf killed her boyfriend. Though what she saw was what had shocked Hinata the most…

Naruto's flesh had started to twitch and move. Like something was moving under his very skin and stretching it to new proportions. It almost seemed like he was going through some kind of transformation. His body started to darken, well that was what she had thought until she saw that his body was indeed, growing grey fur. His face stretched out into a muzzle and his ears started to point at the sides of his head. No, this couldn't be possible…

The sound of ripped clothes echoed through Hinata's ears, she faintly heard Kiba saying "no way" under his breath as Naruto went through this bizzar transformation. As soon as it had finished, Hinata couldn't believe what she was seeing. Naruto had transformed into… into the werewolf that had not just saved her from the tiger, but had also attacked those guys at the bar weeks ago. She just couldn't believe this…

Naruto managed to shove the wolf away from him and growled. The wolf smirked before staring at Hinata for a moment as he said "I just have to kill her, and you'll join me like you should have in the beginning…"

Naruto's answer, of course were "I won't let you fucking touch her!" And then, the battle begun.


End file.
